The Hunting
by ines.sangarinos
Summary: Aria T'Loak. The powerful Pirate Queen. When she desires anything she just takes it. But the problem appears when she wants someone who does not give up own freedom easily. But when Aria wants something she needs to get it. That's why the Hunting begins...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything what appears in this story. Only stupid ideas are mine. I'm borrowing the whole universe to have some fun ;)**

**A/N: A huge THANK YOU goes to CassieHack who was so kind to waiste her time and correct my damn mistakes! English is not my native language. If someone didn't check it, the story probably would not make much sense xD**

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"Maybe I'll come back later."

"Maybe I'll be here."

There was a small grin on her face while she was looking at Shepard's back. She waited until the great Commander left the room and slightly moved her hand just before the tall and slim brunette crossed the doorstep. TheCerberus operative stopped in surprise and looked suspiciously at the red ring which suddenly appeared before her.

"The perfect woman," she said quietly**,** looking at her back.

Miss Lawson slightly moved her head. "What do you want from me?"

A soft laugh slipped from Aria's blue lips. She stood up from her couch and slowly approached the brunette. "Nothing." She braced her hand on the door just a few millimeters from Miranda's shoulder. Lawson finally turned to face her with questioning blue eyes. "I just wonder if you are perfect in… all ways." Her grin widened a bit when not even a single muscle moved on the brunette's face. She leaned forward and whispered in her ear**,** "Call me."

She slowly moved back and touched the panel on the door which opened with a small hiss.

"Miranda?" asked Shepard with confusionin her voice but her XO's eyes didn't leave Aria's.

"We can go, Commander," she said quietly. She slowly took a step back before she turned around and went to the exit**,** not waiting for Shepard. The Commander looked at the asari suspiciously but also left**,** leaving Aria with a devilish smile on her face. She'd just sowed a seed and now she just had to wait for her reward.

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Just a few days had passed when Shepard and her team appeared again in her club. She smiled wolfishly looking through the window at the beautiful brunette. There was something about her. Something desirable, something mysterious. Something that made her want to have Miss Lawson in her bed. It didn't happen often. Most of the time a lot of different people from all species wanted to get into her bed. She rarely felt an attraction toward any of them. But when she saw this perfect woman… She just needed to have her. But she couldn't let her see that. That's why she just sat on the couch when the small team arrived and focused completely on Shepard.

"Commander, what do you need this time?" she asked calmly**,** fully ignoring Lawson. She was looking at her from the corner of her eye. At first Lawson relaxed visibly but Aria was sure that would change in a moment.

"This datapad was on one of the mercs going after Archangel**,**" said Shepard handing her a device. "They were coming for you next."

Aria frowned. That was something she hadn't expect at all. And it just ruined her game. "Let me see." She quickly read the mercs' orders. That definitely wasn't good news. It meant that the mercs were becoming too arrogant and she'd have to do something about this quickly. "Interesting. Would someone like to tell me how this information slipped the net?" she asked**, **angrily throwing the datapad at one of the batarians. To be honest, she wasn't shocked that the mercs wanted to take care of her. No, she was just furious that no one but Shepard hadfound out about it. "You have my thanks, Shepard. I'll have to do a small cleanings in my organization. Do you want anything else?"

"Well, yes." Shepard leaned her arms on the back of the couch. "I was just wondering**,** how is it to run a club?"

Aria laughed with amusement. "Shepard, I am not running a club. I've got the whole Omega**,** not only a club. But why, you want to open one by yourself? Don't even think about competing with me."

"I'm not. I was just wondering."

"You are? And I just don't believe that you are thinking about clubs when you've got awhole galaxy to rescue." She saw uncertainty appearing on Miranda's face. She smiled devilishly. "It's time for you, Shepard. There are a few things I need to do. Thanks to you."

The Commander just smiled and stood up. "Maybe I'll come back later."

"You do that**,**" she answered in a low voice. Shepard just looked at her with curiosity but Lawson visibly shuddered and swallowed. Aria took a datapad and pretended to be reading. In fact she was still observing Miranda from the corner of her eye. Lawson was delaying. She didn't leave with Shepard**,** she just stayed like she was waiting for something. "May I help you, Lawson?" Aria asked kindly**,** not even looking at her.

For a few moments there was just silence. Finally Miranda shook her head and left without a word. However Aria saw true irritation in her. She laughed with triumph.

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She had to wait almost a few weeks for another visit. Of course she knew that Shepard had no business on Omega but still, she was really impatient sometimes. Especially when it came to something she wanted to have. And she really wanted the perfect woman. So when she finally saw the small team sneaking across the Afterlife, a wolfish smile formed on her lips. The only thing that surprised her was the fact that some ugly asari accompanied Shepard instead of the hooded thief. Pity. She was starting to like that tiny woman. The Japanese had managed to hack Omega's systems three times now and no one even had an idea when she did it. Aria decided to talk with her when Shepard had defeated the Collectors and wouldn't need most of her crew anymore.

She sat comfortable on a couch and leaned against the leather back, still with the wolfish smile on her lips. Her eyes landed on the perfect woman as only she came into sight. Lawson immediately froze. She gulped visibly and her cheeks reddened a bit. Blue eyes turned to Shepard who looked at her with surprise. Aria laughed triumphantly in her mind. It seemed that her little plan had worked well.

"What do you need?" she asked, her eyes never leaving Miranda. She saw how the brunette felt unsure under her gaze. Her smile widened and she narrowed her eyes to look at her with more hunger. Lawson immediately blushed.

Shepard slowly sat down on the couch, suspiciously looking from Aria to Miranda and back again. She was obviously confused.

"I… Well, yeah, I have a problem with an asari," the Commander said slowly, focusing on Aria. "The Ardat-Yakshi. We need to find her."

"Finally someone who is willing to take care of that one. She's giving me only problems**,**" she snorted.

She told Shepard everything she knew about this damn asari thing but she didn't look at her even for a second. Her eyes never left Miranda's body even when Lawson was pacing nervously and doing everything to avoid her gaze. She had to admit that she enjoyed it. It was obvious that Miss Perfect Body wanted to be everywhere but here just because Aria's gaze was making her so nervous. However when Shepard knew everything she wanted and stood up in intent to leave**,** it was Miranda who said that she wanted to stay a bit longer. Aria's brow raised in surprise. They both waited until Shepard left and when they were finally alone, Miranda took a deep breath and turned to theasari.

"What do you want from me?" she asked with some kind of desperation in her voice.

Aria laughed quietly and slowly stood up. She approached Miranda unhurriedly and stopped only inches before her. Her lips curved into a wolfish, hungry smile. The brunette shivered visibly.

"I have already told you, Miss Perfect**,**" Aria answered quietly. "You know what surprises me?" she added before Miranda could say anything. Lawson slowly shook her head. Aria simply raised her hand and brushed dark hair off Miranda's face. "You act like you don't even notice all those looks you gain by simply walking through my club. Both men and women are staring at you, admiring your beauty and you just don't care**,**" she said quietly**,** looking directly at those deep blue eyes full of different feelings. "The way you're swaying your hips is driving them all crazy."

Miranda gasped when Aria suddenly grabbed her hips. Tightening her grasp she pulled the brunette closer. Their hips touched. Miranda was trying to pull away but surprisingly didn't put a lot of effort into it. Aria just laughed quietly. Her arm snaked around Miranda's waist as she pulled her even closer. She felt fingers clenching on her arms.

"I hate you**,**" Miranda whispered with no anger. Just the opposite, her voice was full of excitement.

Aria smiled in triumph. Holding Miranda closely she brushed her hair off her neck and leaned to place a small kiss on her smooth skin. She heard a quiet sigh and smiled devilishly. Miranda gasped and shuddered in her arms when Aria bit her. She sucked and immediately felt the woman's muscles stiffen. Slender fingers were digging into her shoulders and Miranda tilted her head to give the asari more space. She already knew that she had won. From now on Miss Perfect could deny and say everything she wanted but she couldn't hide the pleasure she felt.

When she finally pulled away, Miranda was breathing faster and her skin was decorated by a bright red mark. Aria laughed when Lawson rubbed her neck and looked at her with something she desperately wanted to be anger. But Aria was no fool. She knew that Miranda was just trying to hide her real feelings. She didn't stop her when the brunette freed herself. They simply looked at each other for a moment before Miranda turned and left without a word. Aria smiled. This was just the beginning.

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_A/N: I LOOOOOOVE reading reviews. Just saying ;)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello again! First of all, I would like to thank all of you for reading this little story and thank you very much for every single review. I really appeciate them! :D I hope you'll like the second chapter as well. Oh, and I would like to say Thank you to CassieHack, my beta-reader! ;)**

**Disclaimer: Again, nothing here is mine. Expect weird ideas ;)**

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Back on the Normandy she went straight to the bathroom on the third deck. Luckily no one was there. With a heavy sigh she turned on the water and splashed it on her face. She turned the water off and leaned against thewashbasin. The visit to Omega hadwent completely wrong. She had wanted to tell this damn asari what she thought about her, but the moment she had seen this… hunger, this lust in her eyes… That was something she really hadn't expected, especially after their previous visit when Aria had treated her like a ghost. Of course she would have to be blind to not notice that the asari was really beautiful. She was moving like a wild cat and acting like a dangerous predator. But that was only part of her charm. When Miranda had seen her for the first time, she had been extremely impressed by Aria's forcefulness. To be honest, she had never met anyone this powerful. And dangerous. Miranda had felt completely weak when the asari had come closer and simply brushed her hair. She had never found herself in such a situation. She had been helpless, but at the same time she had been extremely excited.

"This is insane," she murmured to herself.

Suddenly she felt aslight touch on her shoulder. Her reaction was faster than she could even think about it. She turned in a flash, grabbed herenemy's wrist and twisted it. Biotics flared on her left arm when she took a swing. Just then she recognized her opponent. Miranda sighed heavily. She let go of the hand and turned back to lean against the wall.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanna check how you feel," Shepard answered calmly like nothinghad just happened. "You didn't say a word after we left Afterlife. I'm just worried, that's all."

"There is no need to be worried, Commander," Miranda said coldly. To be honest, she was thankful that finding and dealing with theArdat-Yakshi hadwent so well that her help had almost beenunnecessary.

She didn't have to look at Shepard to know what was displayedin her eyes. Concern. Miranda already knew what shewould hear in a second. And she was completely right.

"You wanna talk about what happened with Aria?"

A small sigh left her lips when she lowered her head and closed eyes. She could recall the moment when a thrill of excitement had run down her spine. This strange but pleasant feeling when their hips had touched. The growing arousal when she had felt Aria's breasts pressing against her own. This was ridiculous and at the same time thrilling. And the moment when the asari's lips hadbrushed her neck… It had been like something inside of her had just given in. But the moment later had been even worse. She had never felt something like that. Like everything had exploded within her. Her fingers digging into Aria's shoulders had been the only thing connecting her to the real world. She couldn't explain it but she could swear that she had felt the asari's biotics in her own body then. She didn't even think this was possible.

"Come," Shepard's voice brought her back to thereality.

Miranda looked in surprise at her Commander when the redheadsimply grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. She followed her without thinking but suddenly she stopped. Shepard stopped as well and turned her head with a questioning look. Miranda took astep back.

"I do not want to talk…"

"Oh shut up, Lawson," Shepard interrupted her with annoyance. "I'm not blind. It's bothering you, so stop acting like nothing happened and come." She was trying to pull her again but Miranda was stubborn. "Oh come on! Look, there are two ways we can do this, the easy or the hard one. And the hard one means I'm dragging you into the elevator. You really want all the crew to see you like this?"

They were looking at each other for a few moments before Miranda lowered her head and simply gave up. She knew exactly that sometimes Shepard could be even more stubborn than she was. And she was aware that the annoying redhead was ready to make her threat real. That's why she simply let Shepard lead her into the elevator and then into the Captain's Cabin without a single word. She sat on the couch in the private part of Shepard's cabin, trying to ignore the giant aquarium. She had always had this weird feeling that all those fish were staring at her.

She finally raised her head when she saw from the corner of her eye that Shepard was handing her something. There was a glass in her hand. Awine glass full of dark red liquid. "I did not know that you like wine," she said slowly when Shepard sat next to her with the same glass in her second hand.

"Why? 'Cause I prefer stronger alcohol? Well, to be honest I bought that wine only because I know you like it," the Commander answered with a playful smile on her lips.

Miranda raised her brow, looking at her suspiciously. She slowly smelled the wine and took a small sip. Semi-sweet with a strong aftertaste of grapes. She took another sip and licked her lips. She just couldn't believe her own senses. This smell and the taste and even the color of the wine, everything was so familiar and so unexpected.

"How…"

"Did I know this is your favorite?" Shepard interrupted her with a kind of pride in her voice. "Oh Miri, do I really have to remind you that one of my friends is a Master Thief who can hack every single system and the other is the powerful Shadow Broker? It really wasn't that difficult to find out which alcohol you prefer. For example, you ordered exactly the same wine while talking with Oriana on Ilium," the Commander shrugged and winked at Miranda. Shepard leaned against the back of the couch and looked at her seriously. "So, what doyou wanna do about Aria?"

Miranda sighed. She had no idea what she could do. The asari was trying to seduce her, it was obvious, but the problem was that Miranda really enjoyed it. And THAT was terrifying.

"This time I really have no idea what to do," she admitted reluctantly. However, something else was bothering her as well and she just had to ask that question. "Shepard, this wine is extremely expensive. Why did you buy it?"

Shepard sighed loudly and leaned her head against the couch. "Do you really wanna talk about this right now? What about your problem with the possessive asari who is definitely trying to hunt you down?"

"I already told you that I do not want to talk about anything that includes Aria T'Loak. Answer my question, please," Miranda said in her best commanding tone.

Shepard sighed again and turned her head to look at the aquarium. "I just thought that if you are drinking thisalcohol it has to be good and I wanna try it. Simple." Shepard shrugged and nonchalantly took a small sip of the wine. In a flash her eyes grew bigger and for a moment she just stared at the ruby-colored liquid, not able to say anything. "Oh. My. GOD!" she exclaimed a second later. "That damn thing is delicious! Hell, I'm not surprised you like it!"

Miranda just couldn't help but smile slightly. Although it wasn't the answer she'd expected she was aware that she wouldn't get a better one. Shepard was sometimes even more stubborn than Miranda. It was obvious that there was something more in this short explanation but there was no way she could get it out of Shepard. She sighed quietly. All she could do now was enjoy the Commander's company and try not to think about Aria. Which was really, really difficult.

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_A/N: Did I mention that I love reading reviews and knowing what you think about my small work? ;)_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry you had to wait so long but I had some problems with focusing enough to write down what I had in my head. I hope it's good and you'll like it. Oh, if there are any missing spaces blame the Doc Manager - 'tis its fault! 'Tis eating my spaces! That's annoying, you know? But what I wanted to say, you've got much longer chapter today :D So enjoy :)**

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To be truly honest, she was not listening to a single word Shepard was saying. Not at all. Of course she should focus on what was going on but her mind was filled with memories. They were stuck in her head and she was forced to watch them over and over again. Like the one where Kasumi had been curious as usual and had asked Miranda about this mysterious red mark on her neck. Two giant waves of emotions had flooded over her right then. One had been embarrassment, but the second one… had been enormous excitement. She hadn't been able to really explain it, but it had been like Aria had again been biting and sucking her neck. Not to mention the other things the asari had been doing in Miranda's dreams. She had never ever before woken up in the middle of the night with such a powerful need to simply bring herself a relief. It was extremely embarrassing when she was thinking about it now, but right then, when she had woken up in the middle of the night, she had been nearly dying because of arousal. And that was terrifying.

"You okay, Miri?"

A quiet voice and a gentle touch on her shoulder brought her back to the Communication Room. With a sigh Miranda raised her head and looked at Shepard. Again, it was there. Right in those green eyes full of trust. The concern.

"I am fine, Commander. I was just thinking about the mission," she answered simply, trying not to send a murderous look to everyone who was staring at her at that moment.

"Erm, right," Shepard cleaned her throat. "So, back to what I was talking about. We'll stay on Omega for a night just to be sure that every system and the engines are in working order. I can't forbid you a bit of relaxation but I really hope you won't be drinking too much. I don't wanna argue with Aria if you do something she won't like," Commander added with a playful smile. "Any questions?"

"Fuck you, Shepard. I'll be in a bar," Jack murmured, turned on her heels and simply left the Communication Room. Shepard just smiled and glanced at the others.

"Come on, Tali, let's check if there is a way to put some alcohol in that suit of yours," Garrus announced, making Tali laugh. They both nodded towards Shepard and followed the bald woman.

Miranda had a huge dilemma. On the one hand she desperately wanted to stay away from Aria T'Loak, but on the other she felt a kind of strong need. Aria was a dangerous predator and Miranda had a feeling that she was being lured into a trap. Since the first meeting with the asari, her body had been oddly reacting at the simple mention of the Pirate Queen. She was aware that Shepard was suspecting something. She would actually be surprised if the Commander didn't suspect anything; there had been few situations when she had been thinking about Aria and Shepard had asked her a question. A blush had immediately appeared on her cheeks like she had been caught with her hand in a jar of cookies. It had become really annoying; she really wanted to do something about that problem, to free herself of Aria and her damn influence, but she wasn't sure how to manage to do this.

"Shepard, can we talk? In private?" she added, looking directly at Jacob who was the only one who'd stayed in the room. He glanced at the Commander, visibly unsure what to do.

"Course. Jacob, could you leave us alone, please?"

Taylor hesitated for a moment but Shepard's calm smile and her friendly tone convinced him. He saluted the redhead and left without a word. Shepard sighed quietly and leaned against the table. Miranda was not looking at her but she felt the Commander's glance on her own face.

"You wanna talk with her, right?" Shepard asked slowly. "You're sure about this? I don't want to discourage you, but she's trying to hunt you down, Miranda. You can't trust that Aria will be kind and polite. She wants to take advantage of you. If you go to her, you'll only give her an opportunity to do this."

"Do you not believe that I can take care of myself?" Miranda asked coldly. She looked at Shepard and again found concern in those green eyes.

"Oh, Miri, come on," Shepard sighed and took a few steps to stand right in front of the dark-haired woman. Miranda felt the Commander's hands closing around her own. "You know exactly that I fully believe and trust you. I just don't want to see you getting hurt. I'm worried, Miri. After all, it's Aria we're talking about."

And then something clicked. Aria wanted to take advantage of her? Why not kill two birds with one stone?

"Who said it is not me who wants to seduce her?" Miranda asked calmly with a devilish smile on her lips. Shepard frowned and for a moment she was looking at her XO with confusion. But after a few seconds an amusement appeared in her eyes and she laughed quietly. "Shepard, I am not going to let her use me in any way. You have my word on that." Besides, if Miranda was going to abuse Aria, she would both show the asari that the Pirate Queen was not the only one who could seduce others and maybe then her body would finally calm down and stop waking her up in the middle of the night and leaving her sexually frustrated.

"Miri, look," Shepard grew serious again. "I agree that Aria should learn her lesson but could you just rethink it? I believe that you're fully capable of seducing people," a playful smile appeared on the redhead's lips but quickly disappeared, "but you'll be on Aria's territory and she will try to assume control over the situation."

"No, Shepard, she won't," she answered simply. The Commander raised her brow in doubt. Miranda smiled slightly. "For all I know, she is not the Harbinger."

There was a moment of silence before Shepard simply burst out laughing and couldn't stop it for a long while. Even Miranda found it difficult to hide her smile. Most of the time it was the redhead who was sharing the jokes almost with everyone. It was nice to make Shepard laugh for a change.

"That was a good one," the Commander agreed. But again the amusement quickly disappeared from her eyes. "But seriously, Miri, you're sure about this? Cause if you go, there will be no way back."

Miranda sighed heavily. She slowly began getting tired of this argument. "Shepard, there is no need to worry. I could use some distraction and Aria will not dare hurt me in any way, knowing that you will immediately take revenge. So could you just calm down and simply try to believe that I will be back tomorrow morning, ready to kick some Collectors' arses?"

At first, Shepard didn't answer. She was just looking at her XO with dissatisfaction. Miranda had an odd feeling that there was something behind all that concern, but maybe that was just her imagination. After all, it had taken her a really long time to get used to the fact that Shepard was always worried about her crew. It was something she hadn't experienced while working with Cerberus. On the Normandy she always had a feeling that someone has her back and that she is really needed.

"Okay," Shepard sighed finally. "But promise me that you'll take care of yourself!"

"Of course I will. As always," Miranda answered with a confident smile. She nodded towards Shepard and moved to leave the room but stopped near the door. "Kasumi, I swear, if you tell anyone what you heard here, you will be more that dead when I'm finished with you. Is that clear?" she asked loudly.

For a long moment there was no answer. Only Shepard was trying to say something but she raised her hand to silence her. After nearly a minute she was almost ready to admit that she was wrong, but right then she heard a very quiet curse to her left. She slightly turned her head and looked directly at a very dissatisfied thief.

"How did you know? I was quiet," Kasumi said, clearly unhappy that she had been caught.

"Simple. I just did not believe that you would let the opportunity go to find out about my mysterious problem that had to be discussed in private. And I advise you to remember what I said because I am not known to forgive," Miranda told the thief and left, not waiting to an answer.

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It was common knowledge that it is deeds, not words, that count. However, saying some words had always been much easier than putting them into actions. Miranda was absolutely sure that she had enough abilities to seduce another person, no matter if it was man of a woman. Nevertheless, when it came to Aria T'Loak, her confidence was not as high as usual. After all, she was the most powerful asari Miranda had ever met. Well, maybe Samara was a bit stronger in biotics, but Aria was ruling the whole space station where anarchy occured on a daily basis. Besides, the Pirate Queen had never lost a battle, no matter what kind. Miranda had to be a fool if she was really thinking that she could simply seduce someone like the asari. However, she had told Shepard about her plan and she had no other option now. She could not simply go back to the Normandy because the Commander could become suspiciously and would find out that her XO had gotten cold feet at the last moment. Staying on Omega was also not an option – sooner or later Aria would notice her and try her damn games again.

Miranda barely noticed the moment she entered the club. Afterlife was crowded as usual. Loud music, the smell of alcohol and a lot of drunken people; these were definitely not the things she appreciated. However, it was Omega and Miranda would feel something more than just anxiety if there was peace and silence in the club. It was in some way natural that Afterlife was always filled with people from every race, drinking, shouting, laughing and swearing. Speaking of…

"Fuck the Alliance!" Jack's drunken voice was clearly audible over the other yells. Miranda just sighed. She was a bit curious what Shepard would do if she heard this. Without the Alliance, there would be no Commander Shepard. And without Shepard, Jack would still be sitting in that prison with no hope for any future.

In the corner of her eye she saw more members of the Normandy's crew. They were sitting at the far end of the club, laughing loudly. They were all pretending that they enjoyed the evening but no one could hide the concern in their voice. It was obvious that everyone was worried about people being kidnapped by the Collectors. Miranda had been truly shocked when Shepard had come to visit her in the morning to inform her about the night on Omega. She was perfectly sure that the redhead would drop everything and rush towards the Omega 4 Relay in a flash, but to her surprise, Shepard decided to delay, although she understood that decision. After all, if she were Shepard, she would have to be perfectly sure that everyone is focused on the mission before she'd give the order to attack the Collector's base.

One particular scene caught her eye. Between the Normandy's crew, next to Thane, there was Garrus. And his presence wouldn't be exceptional if his arm was not leaning against the back of Tali's chair. They were sitting suspiciously close to each other and Tali was acting like she didn't even notice his hand brushing her shoulder. Miranda smiled to herself. It wasn't the first time she'd seen that something was going on between those two. The whole crew had already noticed that Garrus and Tali were closer than normal friends. Miranda had once heard that Kasumi had been trying to talk with the quarian about this whole "we are just friends"-thing but Tali had been changing the subject the whole time.

All the thoughts simply disappeared from her mind as soon as she looked at the lodge over the club. Aria was not in sight but Miranda knew she was there. She could literally feel the asari's power. Which was insane because there was no way to feel someone's biotics when they were not currently in use. Yet she was still sure that the Pirate Queen was exactly in the same place she had been each time Shepard had talked to her.

Her heart was pounding furiously in her chest when she approached one of Aria's guards. For a split of a second she was sure that the merc would tell her to leave, but a half smile appeared on his face and he motioned towards the lodge. Miranda took a deep breath before she passed him and slowly entered Aria's private territory.

And there she was, right on the dark leather couch. As usual, she was sitting with her back towards the club. Her head was lowered while she was reading something on a datapad. Judging from the tiny frown on her face she hadn't received any good news. It seemed that she didn't even notice her guest. Miranda waited a few seconds, watching the asari carefully. No one could say the Pirate Queen was not beautiful. She had sharp features but there was a specific charm surrounding her. The asari was like a predator, dangerous but attractive. And she was simply powerful. Miranda felt somehow weak in Aria's presence, and that was making her annoyed.

"Aria," she finally said, tired of all those games and the ignorance.

The corner of the asari's lips raised a bit, forming a confident smile. Aria turned off the datapad and threw it on the couch. Only then did she raise her head to look at her guest. Miranda gulped at the sight of lust in the asari's eyes.

"Miss Perfect," Aria answered simply. Her voice was lower than usual and it made Miranda feel weak in her knees. "I'm surprised that you are alone today. I wonder what youcould want from me," the asari added almost politely and innocently. Almost, because there was a touch of lust in her voice.

Miranda cleaned her throat and crossed her arms, trying to look confident. "I would like to talk to you."

"Just talk? Pity. I was hoping for something more," Aria said kindly. A wolfish smile appeared on her lips when she slowly rose. Miranda involuntarily took a step back when the asari approached her unhurriedly. "Are you sure you only want to talk?" Aria asked, looking directly at Miranda's eyes. The asari's hand brushed the other woman's cheek. Lawson closed her eyes with a sigh. She knew she had to calm down but this slight touch and Aria's closeness were driving her crazy and she couldn't think rationally.

"You will not take advantage of me," she almost whispered. Aria's quiet laugh sent a shiver down her spine.

"Of course I won't. After all, you have come here on your own free will." Miranda could feel Aria leaning forward. The asari's hot breath caressed her neck. "It was your decision to come to me. The only one you can blame is yourself."

Miranda forced herself to open her eyes and look directly at Aria. The pure lust in the asari's eyes was overwhelming. And then she felt the Pirate Queen's hands grabbing her hips. She shuddered with a sudden wave of pleasure when Aria pulled her closer. Miranda was desperately trying to pull back, to regain control over the situation before it was too late... She didn't succeed. A quiet moan left her lips when the asari placed a gentle kiss on her neck. It was a moment of defeat. Instead of pulling back, her hand slipped around Aria's back and brought her closer. She could hear the asari's laugh but she didn't care at all.

"You will not abuse me as you do with all your toys," Miranda hissed with warning in her voice.

"Of course I won't," Aria repeated with a gentle laugh. "Are you finished talking?"

Miranda's eyes closed again on their own accord as the asari's hand moved to give her buttock a gentle squeeze. Her breath quickened as she felt everything more clearly; Aria's hot breath against her neck, the strong grasp on her hip, the feeling of the asari's breasts pressing against her own, soft lips brushing her neck... It was all too much for her.

"I hate you so much," Miranda moaned quietly with her voice full of pure pleasure.

"I've already heard this," Aria answered simply.

Before Miranda could do anything, her lips were captured by Aria's. She went weak in the knees when she felt the overwhelming taste of the asari's lips. She had never ever felt something like that before. At the same time she wanted both to run away and never come back and to lie just where she was standing and let Aria do whatever she wanted. Her body decided for her. Her arms snaked around the asari's neck on their own. The Reapers could destroy the whole galaxy right that moment. Miranda Lawson didn't care at all...

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_A/N: I know, I'm mean ^^ I don't know if I mention it already but I really love reading reviews, you know? xD And thank you so much for all those previous ones :D_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I think you will be pleased with this chapter. It wasn't that easy to write but it's quite long... Oh and because of this chapter I had to change the rating, so don't be surprise ;)**

**Enjoy the story!**

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The beeping was really annoying but she ignored it once more. Her eyes were stuck to the mirror and a smile appeared on her face as soon as she looked at the dark purple scratches on her back. No one had ever dared to place a mark on her body. Until last night. She was aware that humans are more brave and confident, and in most cases possessive, than other species but what this perfect human being had done, exceeded her wildest expectations. Though it didn't make her angry. Just the opposite, she somehow felt new waves of desire as her eyes were tracing the marks Miranda's nails left on her skin.

Shaking her head she finished dressing and went back to the bedroom. A quiet sigh left her lips when she looked at her omni-tool. Shepard was already calling for the third time. Of course she must have been worried as hell but somehow it was kind of amusing that she still didn't storm into Afterlife demanding the return of her Executive Officer. To be honest, Aria expected that she'd have to deal with a pissed off Shepard but it looked like the Commander was afraid that acting violently wouldn't help her in retrieving Miss Lawson.

Her attention was caught by an almost unnoticeable move on her left. A smile full of satisfaction appeared on her face as she glanced towards the bed. The brunette was lying on her back, her dark hair contrasting with her pale skin and white pillow. She looked so calm while sleeping, unlike every time Aria had met her. There was no tension in her features, no stress, it even looked like she was completely relaxed. It wasn't surprising at all; Aria had had sex with countless people but there had been no single person who had been unsatisfied after a night with the Pirate Queen. And Miranda Lawson would be no exception.

The brunette moved suddenly as though she somehow felt Aria's gaze. The asari watched with a slight smile as Miranda stretched lazily and raised her hand to cover her lips and hide a small yawn. Aria came closer and stopped at the foot of the bed, her arms crossed over her chest as she observed Miranda rubbing her eyes. The brunette sighed quietly and frowned suddenly. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around with pure confusion on her face. Aria laughed quietly.

"Your omni-tool," she said simply. Miranda raised her head a bit and focused her attention on the asari. Aria caught herself on thinking how adorable Shepard's XO looks with that sleepy expression on her face.

"What?" the brunette asked with confusion, slowly sitting and covering her naked body with a sheet.

"I said that this annoying sound is made by your omni-tool. I'd answer the call to simply shut it up," Aria explained slowly. Miranda's expression changed in a flash as she realized that indeed it was her device. She desperately looked around in an attempt to stop this annoying beeping that didn't let her rest after a whole night of mind-blowing sex. "Table to your left," Aria said with a laugh and turned on her heel.

The annoying sound died away as she approached the couch. She had just enough time to sit down and reach for a datapad before Shepard's voice could be heard in her tiny, almost invisible earphone.

_"Miranda! Finally! You're okay? Did she hurt you?! What happened?!"_

"Shepard, calm down," Miranda whispered with a sigh. She glanced at the asari who acted like she didn't hear anything. She had no intention to show her that she indeed heard every single word said by both her and Shepard. Miranda focused again on her Commander just before the other woman was able to say something. "Everything is fine, there is no need to be worried. I will be back on the Normandy soon, Shepard."

_"Oh. Okay, right. Did she do anything unpleasant?"_

Aria almost laughed when she noticed a small blush on Miranda's face.

The answer was short. "No, she didn't."

_"You're…"_

"Shepard, can we not talk about it now?" Miranda hissed impatiently. It was surprisingly hard for Aria to not show her amusement. "We'll talk later," she added before Shepard had a chance to say a word and cut the connection. With a heavy sigh Miranda laid back on the bed and covered her face with a hand. "Did I mention how…"

"You hate me?" Aria interrupted her, trying hard to stop the grin from appearing on her face. "Yes, you were repeating it frequently during last night."

"Good." She always had a strong will power but this time she simply couldn't keep it any longer; a quiet and genuine laugh left her lips, making Miranda frown. "What is it that you find so amusing?"

"Amusing? No, I'd rather say it's hilarious how you keep telling that to yourself after all the pleasure I gave you," she said calmly not even looking at Miranda.

What happened next was far beyond her ability to understand. After all those years she really shouldn't be surprised by anything. She always thought that she can predict the behaviour of every race. Yet it looked that humans were too unpredictable. And arrogant. And insolent. There was no other explanation to why a pillow all of a sudden hit her head. She slowly raised her head just to look at the insecure expression on Miranda's face. It seemed that the brunette hadn't spent any time on thinking before she had reached for the pillow to simply throw it. Yet there was no fear in her eyes. And that was impressing. Every other person in her place would be running like hell right now, but not Miranda Lawson.

Aria slowly put the datapad on the couch and rose. She unhurriedly approached the bed just to lean over. There was still no sign of fear in those light blue eyes. And it didn't appear even when Aria moved to place herself just above the impudent woman.

"Do I look like Shepard?" Aria asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"Well... Last time I checked... She wasn't blue. And as I recall there were no tentacles on her head."

_Tentacles?!_ Aria simply couldn't believe what she'd just heard. No one ever hadhad the guts to talk to her like that. That indication of complete insolence should make her blood boil. But instead, surprisingly even to herself, she started laughing. Miranda's eyes widened in shock and confusion as she shook her head in that weird amusement she suddenly felt. She brushed dark hair off the brunette's face. A shiver run down her spine as her fingers got surrounded by this unique human trait. She had always liked playing with human's hair; there was no other race that could give her that pleasure.

"You're gonna regret it so much next time," she whispered almost kindly, leaning lower to place a tiny kiss on that sweet pulsing point on Miranda's neck.

"What makes you think that there will be next t…" The rest of the words were replaced by the sudden hiss as Aria bit her hard. Miranda was trying to push her off but she didn't intend on letting go. She grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the bed, still sucking hard on her neck.

"_Fuck!_" was all Miranda was able to say. However she had enough strength to struggle and Aria had to press her own body against the other woman's to keep her in place.

When Aria finally pulled back, there was a dark red mark, terribly contrasting with Miranda's pale skin. The asari smiled triumphantly as the brunette's chest was rising faster than normal. She slowly licked the mark before she placed a kiss on it. She could almost feel a thrill of excitement running down Miranda's spine.

"As much as I'd love to keep you here, it's time for you to get out and kick some damn asses," she whispered into Miranda's ear.

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She barely remembered her way back to the ship. All she had in mind was Aria T'Loak and her own, completely idiotic behaviour. The reason for acting so immature was still incomprehensible to her. Yet before any reasonable thought had come into existence, the pillow had already been in the air. For a brief moment she had been certain that Aria would hurt her badly. It was really surprising that she hadn't. Though when she had looked into the mirror after getting dressed, she had understood what the asari was trying to do. Hurting was too ordinary; she wanted to humiliate her. And it looked like she had accomplished her goal. There was no damn way Miranda could hide that bloody mark on her neck. It was almost screaming "I HAD SEX WITH A DAMN ASARI!". It was so embarrassing, Miranda wished the earth would swallow her up.

"Looks like you had a fun night, Lawson," Joker's cheerful comments interrupted her thoughts and immediately caused a wave of anger toflood over Miranda.

"Mind your own business," she hissed with an icy voice, shooting him a murderous look. Joker raised his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, why so nervous? Women…," he murmured but Miranda decided it was better to not respond. She needed to calm down before she'd face Shepard.

A deep breath and a quick counting to twenty was enough to make her composed again. Before she approached the galaxy map she was all calm and even the fact that Jack of all people was next to the Commander couldn't make her angry.

"Miranda!" Shepard exclaimed as soon she raised her head and saw her XO. She rushed towards Lawson to hug her tightly. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I am perfectly fine, Shepard, you can finally stop being worried." Miranda smiled slightly, ignoring Jack's snort. She really didn't want to argue with the convict right now but it seemed it was impossible.

"How was it cheerleader? Did you get a good fucking?"

She sighed and pushed Shepard back. Trying to stay calm, she looked at Jack whose eyes were pointed right at the red mark on her neck. _Damn you, T'Loak._ Before she responded her thoughts wandered towards the previous night on their own accord…

_What she did care about were only the asari's lips on her neck, kissing, biting and sucking, making her moan in pure pleasure. Her back hit the wall as Aria pushed her. The asari's arms snaked around her waist to hold her as close as it was possible. Miranda force herself to open her eyes as Aria's lips stopped making marks on her skin. She looked directly at those light blue eyes and found lust there. It made her feel even weaker. Without a second thought she raised her hand and gently touched the asari's check. She felt some kind of arousal as she was looking at her own fingers brushing the indigo skin and tracing the dark face-marking. She really didn't care that Aria was pinning her against the wall. Her thoughts disappeared somewhere and the only thing that was left were the emotions. Overwhelming emotions were flooding her, wave after wave. Excitement, arousal, desire and even lust. The feeling of Aria's body pressing against her own only increased those emotions. She couldn't stand it anymore. She had to do something before she'd explode with all those feelings. Her fingers brushed Aria's lower lip and Miranda leaned closer…_

_But she was stopped by the asari's hand placed on her lips. Her brows raised as she gave Aria a surprised look. The Pirate Queen simply smiled devilishly. Miranda felt annoyed when she saw triumph in Aria's eyes._

_"I guess you don't want any company," Aria said in a low voice as she motioned towards something behind her. Miranda glanced there and saw the asari's guards staring at them with damn smirks on their faces. "So I suggest we move to a more… private place. Do you agree with me?"_

_She looked back at the asari and despite the fact that she was almost melting in those strong and possessive arms, she was still able to give her a furious look. Partially she was angry at herself; Aria's people had always been somewhere close and she should have remembered them. However the asari was damn good at making her mindless. And somehow she simply couldn't keep her anger; probably because of the still rising arousal which made her breathing heavier and her pulse much faster._

_"What exactly do you suggest?" she finally asked, her voice low and full of lust. She really wanted to make Aria pay for that small performance in front of her people but the need for relief was too great. She even couldn't get annoyed at the sight of triumph in the asari's eyes._

_"Come," Aria said simply. She took a step back freeing Miranda, but one of her arms was still around the Operative's waist, hand grasping the brunette's hip. This almost gentle touch was driving Miranda crazy while she was pulled towards the wall between the passages leading to the club. To her big surprise as Aria slightly brushed the metal surface, the wall moved revealing a secret entrance. Her brow raised as she thought about all those vids Shepard was watching where there were enormous numbers of secret passages in the giant mansions. "Surprised?" Aria asked with amusement. "You didn't think that I don't have my own chambers where entrance is forbidden to anyone but me, did you?"_

_"Well, honestly…," she started as Aria pulled her into the giant room which might be used as an exclusive casino. Momentarily she forgot what she was about to say. The room was enormous with very expensive furniture. The lights were dimmed and the music much quieter than in the club. In the corner there was-…_

_Suddenly she was pinned to the wall and the room didn't matter anymore. Her lips were captured by Aria's in a violent kiss. Her arms moved on their own and snaked around the asari's neck to hold her close, as close as it was possible, to prevent her from pulling back. In a moment she went weak in her knees, blood boiled in her veins as she felt an enormous wave of heat flooding her body. The simple kiss wasn't enough, she needed more, much more. Her hands clenched around Aria's white, leather jacket and took it off the asari's shoulders. A second later the jacket was lying somewhere on the floor together with Miranda's belt still holding her guns._

_She gasped as Aria pulled back; her lungs were dying from the lack of air but she hadn't felt it until that moment. Before she realized what was happening, she was pulled across the room, Aria's arms still around her waist, lips on her neck, hot breath caressing sensitive skin. Her mind was useless. She could only feel, unable to process any thought. She felt like she was completely drunk. Somehow the gloves disappeared from her hands and in the next moment she gasped when__she felt Aria's skin under her fingers. It was smooth but more like a lizard's skin, not a human's and slightly cooler. Her hands acted like they had minds of their own. Fingers were brushing the asari's neck like they couldn't get enough of that cool purple skin. The moment she touched Aria's neckfolds she almost melted as she heard a quiet purr of pure pleasure. Nothing mattered anymore. The whole galaxy could go to hell._

_Miranda barely remembered the moment when she was pushed on the bed. In a second Aria was on top of her, the asari's lips on her own bringing her to insanity. She couldn't think, she couldn't speak, she could only feel and moan and hiss and purr in pleasure. Her fingers found the clasps holding together more pieces of leather covering Aria's body. In a flash they were unbuckled and the asari's muscles tensed under Miranda's hands._

_The feeling was overwhelming. Asari's skin felt so pleasant under her fingers. Smooth, cool, amazing and unexpectedly so natural. Aria's hands were all over her body, driving her crazy. Her firm touch, hot breath against Miranda's skin, surprisingly soft lips on her neck sucking at the pulse point. She couldn't tell when the Pirate Queen unzipped her catsuit. At one moment there was still this thick barrier between Aria's hands and Miranda's body and in the next it simply disappeared. Somehow the upper part of her suit found its place on the floor together with the leather pieces and suddenly Miranda was able to fully feel Aria's body against her own. And that feeling almost drove her insane._

_She wasn't even sure if it was still real or maybe somehow she had fallen asleep and this was one of her crazy dreams after which she would wake up unfulfilled. What she was experiencing was too strong to be real. Yet there she was, on Omega, in one bed with the great and powerful Aria T'Loak. Part of her was terrified and wanted to run away. Though it was a really tiny part. She wanted to stay, she needed to stay, to finish this, to finally break free from all that lust tormenting her even in her sleep._

_"Finish… this…" she gasped, not able to stop her own body from writhing under Aria's touch._

_The asari's lips stopped teasing her breasts when Aria raised her head. Miranda could see the victory in those blue eyes of hers._

_"Finish? Already? But the fun just started," the Pirate Queen answered with a low, dangerous voice. Miranda suddenly felt terrified. The feeling must have appeared in her eyes because Aria laughed quietly and when she spoke again her tone was not as predatory as it was a moment ago. "Do not worry, sweetie, I told you I do not intend to harm you. But I need to make sure you remember that night," she added with a whisper._

_Miranda was already breathing heavily, the blood was almost boiling in her veins, skin was burning under Aria's touch but all that was nothing. She couldn't pay attention to what was happening around her. The only thing she felt was the strong grip on her hips and suddenly the rest of her clothes were simply gone. The asari's hands were on her tights, stroking them gently as she lowered herself. And then it happened. There was no way Miranda could be able to describe what she felt at that moment. Aria's tongue right on her core, on that burning place between her legs, simply sent her to the far end of the galaxy. She couldn't help but scream in pleasure as every single muscle in her body tensed. Shivers ran down her spine, her fingers clenched on the sheets, her body arched and her mind simply exploded._

_When she collapsed back on the bed some time later she almost couldn't breathe. She had never ever experienced something like that. The exhaustion didn't even let her open her eyes. The only thing she could do was lying still, trying to calm down and catch her breath. She felt the gentle kisses Aria was placing on her body but she didn't have the energy to respond to them._

_"Poor little thing," Aria murmured in her ear. "Already exhausted? Too bad. I thought you were stronger."_

_Miranda forced herself to open her eyes and look at this wolfish smile on Aria's face. "I hate you," she whispered. The Pirate Queen rolled her eyes and leaned to capture her lips in a hungry kiss. Miranda could taste herself on the asari's lips. She moaned unwillingly. A quiet laugh filled the room._

_"You're getting better, I see. Wonderful. Because I'm not done with you yet." With those words Aria's eyes went black…_

… and she shrugged.

"It was not that bad," she answered calmly, looking directly at Jack's eyes. The convict frowned; it was obvious that she didn't expect something like that. "Yet I guess still better than what you've ever experienced in your whole life."

She could see the anger growing in the bald woman but honestly she didn't care. Jack was insulting her all the time so it was fair enough to do the same to her. If she really thought that clenched fists and a murderous look could scare Miranda Lawson she must have lost her mind.

"Fuck you, bitch," Jack hissed angrily. "You're gonna be fucking dead as soon as we finish this damn mission!"

Of course she couldn't say that Jack's shouting made any impression on her as it was not the first time she had heard that kind of threat. However it looked like her mind decided to have a break; instead of ignoring Jack as she had usually done, she found herself continuing this angry exchange.

"I can't wait. May I ask you to contact me first so I could fit you in my tight schedule?"

This simple request together with a casual tone and a nonchalant pose clearly pissed Jack off. She rushed angrily towards Miranda but was quickly stopped by Shepard who grabbed her arms before she could even think about tearing Lawson apart with her biotics.

"Fuck you!" Jack shouted, trying to struggle free. Shepard tightened her grip on the convict's arms, trying to push her towards the elevator.

"In your dreams," Miranda answered with a small yawn.

"You f…"

"Jack!" Shepard's raised voice cut off the cursing. Jack spent a moment throwing angry glances towards Miranda before she freed herself, turned on her heel and rushed towards the elevator. The Commander sighed and looked at her XO with a confused expression on her face."Was it really necessary?"

"It was not me who started this," Miranda shrugged, reaching for a datapad like nothing had just happened. She could feel Shepard's gaze on herself but tried to focus her attention on the report in front of her. There was a heavy sigh and she could see in her mind how the Commander was shaking her head before approaching the galaxy map.

"I swear to God I didn't say a word!"

The datapad hit the metal floor with a loud thud. With lightning speed she turned on her heel and her fingers clenched around a soft fabric. She sighed as Kasumi grinned widely. Immediately the thief's eyes landed on the mark; the brown irises lighted up with joy.

"Oh, I didn't know she's _that_ possessive," the thief remarked, not bothering to lower her voice.

Miranda cursed in her mind and glanced towards Shepard, but the Commander looked like she was completely focused on her task, whatever it was. She looked back at the grinning woman in front of her and pushed her unceremoniously. Kasumi quickly took a step back, then another and another until her back hit the metal wall behind her. She was visibly trying to find a way out of her troubles but Miranda simply tightened her grip on the thief's suit, not letting her run away under her tactical cloak.

"First of all," Miranda started in a whisper, "for your own safety do not sneak up on me like that again. Secondly, I advise you to find a good explanation soon, because if you may have noticed my patience is wearing thin."

Before she could say anything more, Kasumi quickly raised her hands in surrender. "I told you it's not my fault! She isn't as stupid as you think she is, you know? She saw you entering Aria's lodge and you didn't leave until now and here's that cute mark on your neck and you know, two plus two," the woman shrugged and grinned widely. "By the way, I don't think she liked what you said about her sex-life. I heard her speaking with Shepard once. Did you know that she was raped and sold as a slave? Poor girl…"

"I do not care about her past," Miranda hissed with raising anger. Truth to be told there were those moments when she was honestly pondering on her mental state. It was amazing that she was still able to tolerate the thief after all that nonsense she had been already forced to listen to. "Tell me, Goto, were you spying on me?" she asked slowly looking directly into Kasumi's eyes.

"'Course not! It's just that you were so focused on Aria and didn't pay any attention to what was going on around you, so I thought it's a good idea to be sure that no one will interrupt you," Kasumi answered with another grin.

Miranda spent some time simply looking at the thief who started fidgeting uncomfortable after a few seconds. She had always found it quite easy to recognize if someone was lying and she expected that Kasumi would tell her some fancy story about how she knew where Jack was staring while being in the club. Yet it looked like the thief was at least trying to be honest with her. It wasn't something she was used to. Everyone was lying and there was always a reason to do it. Someone like Goto was even expected to lie whenever she opens her mouth. Miranda found it quite pleasant to discover that there were still some people in the whole galaxy who weren't trying to misinform her. So instead of investigating why the thief had decided that she would like some help in any form, she simply let go of the soft fabric and turned on her heel to go back to the terminal and datapad which was still lying on the floor.

"I like your omni-tool!" Kasumi exclaimed before she was able to take even two steps.

Without turning back, she simply snorted. "You have your own one, Kasumi, so please, do not think that stealing mine would do you any good," she warned the thief over her shoulder. The respond she got made her freeze.

"But mine isn't linked with the one that belongs to one possessive asari…"

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_A/N: R&R, maybe? They really help, you know? The reviews, I mean ;)_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! They're definitely making my day ;) You can't imagine how glad I am that there are people who find my weird idea kinda interesting ;) I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter! :D**

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**Ch. 5**

The whole place was already trembling and the Collectors weren't making it anything easier. It was difficult enough to run when the ground was stubbornly trying to crush into pieces under their feet, the shots aimed at their backs were really unnecessary. Yet Miranda wasn't insane enough to tell the Collectors that it'd be nice of them to stop. She half expected Kasumi would do something equally idiotic; it seemed though that even the thief knew it'd be useless. Every other species would run away to escape the inevitable explosion; but not Collectors.

A swish near her ear brought her back to the reality. She didn't risk glancing back, instead she gazed at Kasumi's back. Goto was already a few meters ahead and after two more steps she jumped and landed gracefully on the Normandy's deck. Miranda smiled slightly. The thief was sometimes more annoying than anyone else could ever be; she lacked the ability to shut her mouth, loved gossip and had, strangely enough, gotten the idea that she should share them with the Normandy's Executive Officer. She was sneaking around in that irritating cloak of her, scaring people all the time. Kasumi Goto for sure _was_ the most annoying and irresponsible person Miranda had ever met. Yet she liked the thief and would never wish her ill.

The Normandy was only a few steps away when she did risk a glance over her shoulder. Garrus with his sniper rifle crouching in the airlock was doing a great job. There were only a few Collectors left but the creatures were stubborn. They focused their firepower on Shepard and Miranda could almost see the shields slowly going down. It was then, after a few more shots, when the redhead tripped over and fell.

"Shepard!" Miranda almost fell herself as she stopped in place in a second. She turned around instantly and rushed towards the Commander, completely ignoring the yelling from behind.

"Shepard, you okay?" the question left her lips as she dropped to her knees next to the redhead.

The Commander was already on all fours and was trying to push herself up. In a flash, Miranda drabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a standing position.

"I'm fine. Get the hell out of here, Lawson," Shepard breathed without anger.

"Not without you."

The short answer brought a smile to Shepard's lips. However, it disappeared with lightning speed and the Commander hissed in pain as the lonely bullet got through the tiny gap between the plates of her armor and dug into the flesh just below her ribs.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Shepard hissed, her body tensing as she leaned against Miranda's shoulder. "Okay, now I'm not fine," she spat out through clenched teeth.

In any other situation she would have laughed at that; now, however, was not the best time for jokes, it was time to hide all pride and run away as fast as they could, before the whole place would explode and turn them into tiny burned pieces. Miranda's arm snaked around Shepard's waist to keep her close. The bullets were flitting all around, the ground was shaking, people were shouting at them to hurry up as the two women rushed towards the Normandy, towards their last resort. They were almost there, just a few meters from the precipice, when everything trembled furiously. Miranda barely kept her balance, trying to prevent Shepard from loosing hers. The events of the next few seconds occurred so fast that after a time, she could hardly remember what exactly happened. Grunt appeared from nowhere and helped her dragging the Commander. Then there was a loud and sudden stream of curses. She didn't feel the pain at first; there was only a swish and a quiet pop as her kinetic barriers went down. First it was only a sting and the feeling of something wet and warm flowing down her side. The pain and the realization came to her after a few seconds, as if her mind didn't want to acknowledge that, indeed, she had been shot. Before she could even look at the wound in surprise, a huge arm surrounded her waist and suddenly she was on the Normandy's deck, pressed against Grunt's muscular torso. The krogan held her for one more moment to be sure that she was not going to collapse any time soon.

"You okay, Lawson?" Garrus' husky voice brought her back to reality. She looked at his bird-like face, then at the blood streaming down his arm and then at her own side. Her white suit was becoming more scarlet every single moment. She raised her head to glance at the last Collector still aiming at her. Biotics flared instantly and the creature flew into the air with a squawk when she raised her hand. She waited a second just to gloat over the Collector's helplessness. Then, in one smooth move, Miranda lowered her hand almost violently. She could hear the crack of breaking bones and she could see the crushed body even after the airlock's door had closed.

"I am fine," she answered quietly, still glancing at the metal surface with narrowed eyes. "Where is Shepard?" Miranda asked, searching for any sign of the Commander.

"The bridge. Said something about yelling at Joker to hurry up," Garrus simply shrugged.

She gave him a short nod and headed towards the bridge. She could hear Shepard almost begging Joker to hurry up to which he kept responding by "I'm doing my best!". A tiny smile found its way to her lips as she saw the Commander leaning against the pilot's seat with her fingers clenched around its edges. When she placed her hand on Shepard's shoulder, the green eyes glanced at her and she could see the concern in them. Her fingers gave the shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Even though the redhead couldn't feel it under the armor, her lips curved into a small smile.

"We did our part, Shepard. Let Joker do his," she said quietly. A heavy sigh left the Commander's lips as she glanced at the pilot and back to Miranda. She lowered her head a bit and nodded. "Now, as we agree on this matter, it would be high time to visit the Med-bay, don't you think?"

For a moment Shepard just looked her into eyes before she laughed quietly and slightly shook her head. "Yeah, guess you're right. After you, Miss Lawson."

Miranda gave the redhead another small smile before she turned on her heel. After only two steps her muscles tensed and she gasped slightly as she felt something entirely unexpected**;** it was like something was moving inside her, somewhere under her skin, between the internal organs. She carefully placed her hand over the wound. In a second, the blood had soaked through the thin fabric of her glove.

"Miranda? You okay?"

Her head twitched in surprise as she heard the concerned voice extremely close to her ear. She turned slightly to look at Shepard and forced herself to smile with trained manner. "Apart from the hole in my side I am perfectly fine, Commander," she lied and immediately clenched her teeth when the odd feeling reappeared. Her grip on the side tightened and she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm down. The feeling was more than alarming. Something like that had never happened to her. A hand touched her shoulder and she forced herself to open her eyes, give Shepard a tiny smile and keep walking towards the elevator. She was now determined to get there as fast as possible; there was that tiny hope that maybe Chakwas would know what was happening to her.

Miranda had never thought that simply walking while something was moving inside her, rubbing against her bones and muscles, would be that difficult. Every simple step was forced, she was so focused on ordering her legs to move she couldn't pay attention to what was going on around her. She didn't hear Shepard's talking, nor could she see the worried eyes turned towards her. Even if she had noticed them, she wouldn't have cared. Getting rid of that bloody thing was too important to be bothered by such unimportant details.

There were still about two meters between her and the elevator when she suddenly gasped and all her muscles refused to cooperate and tensed. That bloody thing was already somewhere near her spine and the rubbing against the vertebras was almost unbearable. She clenched her teeth, closed her eyes and her hands formed into fists on their own. She felt Shepard's arm around her waist but the feeling made by that thing was so uncomfortable, she couldn't focus on anything else. It moved once more and finally stopped. Miranda sighed in relief. Only to scream in agony a second later. What she suddenly felt was extremely hard to describe. At first her spine was on fire and after a moment her whole body burned. She bowed and hugged herself in an attempt to ease the pain a bit. She heard the dreadful screaming and realized it was coming from her own throat. Someone was moving around her but her strength failed her and she couldn't even lift the eyelids. Her knees collided with a metal surface as she fell. An arm embraced her shoulders but she couldn't notice anything more. Her mind simply shut down. She could feel only the pain…

* * *

The club was crowded as always, full of different species and all of them were spending their time in peace, drinking together, dancing, almost having intoxicating sex on the counter. Many wouldn't believe it, but in fact, Omega was a place where everyone could live in peace. And it didn't really count that this peace was strictly connected with being drunk and drugged and watched by armed guards. What did matter was the fact that no one had ever dared to kill anyone in Afterlife – the event with Shepard and this bloody batarian didn't count. Everyone knew what the price for making a mess in Aria's private and beloved club was. However, no matter how peaceful the club could be, Aria found herself somehow distracted. She knew exactly what the cause of that annoying distraction was, as well as she knew how to handle it. That was why she was walking across the club like a dangerous predator looking for her new prey. And she found it.

At the far end of the club there was a young, beautiful woman, tall with dark hair tied into a ponytail. She was turned with her back to Aria, dancing with other humans who seemed to be her friends. The asari smiled wolfishly. She slowly approached her prey, taking her time so she could examine every curve of the young body. The fact that she chose a human didn't matter to her. She wasn't going to be the first human in her bed and she wouldn't be the last one. Aria had always felt attracted to humans with their so unique trait. Besides, she had never met any other race reacting with such excitement to her every touch. Oh how she enjoyed feeling the eager flesh writhing under her hands with such enthusiasm. No other species could give her such pleasure, not even another asari.

The woman - or rather the girl, as she looked younger than Aria had expected - almost jumped as the asari's arms snaked around her waist and in one smooth move pulled her against her own chest. The brunette tried to turn her head but the move was stopped by Aria's fingers digging warningly into her hips. The Pirate Queen rested her chin on the girl's shoulder and took a deep breath. She smiled, sensing the brunette's pleasant, sweet scent. The girl tensed suddenly; Aria guessed her friends helped her realize who exactly was behind her as she relaxed completely after a second and her back leaned against the asari's chest. Closing her eyes, she turned her head to taste the skin of her young prey's neck. The girl shuddered in her arms. The evil grin appeared on Aria's lips. Her tongue traveled all the way up the slim neck leaving a moist track on the skin. The girl gasped loudly as the asari's teeth closed around her earlobe. Her fingers clenched around the arms embracing her waist. Aria laughed quietly.

"Today is your lucky day," she whispered into the brunette's ear making her shudder again. "You have one minute to get to my lodge if you want to experience the most amazing sex in your whole life."

She could feel the young woman almost melting in her arms. That's why she loved spending some private time with humans. Always so eager, so willing to surrender under her control. It had always amazed her how a few single words were enough to make them throw themselves at her mercy. Of course some of them were trying to fight and that had always made everything even more pleasurable.

Her grip slowly loosened and the girl almost disappeared in a second, making Aria laugh with amusement. Paying no attention to her prey's friends, she simply turned on her heel and followed the young, eager woman. Her guards didn't show any surprise instead they just left her lodge, leaving her alone with the girl. Aria moved past her to lounge comfortably in her famous couch. She glanced at the girl standing in front of her, almost shacking with anxiety. She half expected to see light blue eyes, but the ones staring at her with delight were chocolate brown. Her lips curved into a wolfish smile.

"What's your name?"

The simple question asked in a low, predatory voice made the brunette shudder. The goose bumps appearing on her bare shoulders didn't go unnoticed.

"Chloe," the girl answered quickly like she was afraid that any delay would take away the promise of a night full of mind blowing sex.

"Come here, _Chloe_," Aria requested, patting lightly her own thigh. The brunette was more than willing and it didn't take her long to find a comfortable position on the asari's lap. Aria stroked her thighs gently; there was a sharp intake of breath as her fingers suddenly duginto her firm buttocks. She pulled the girl closer, almost feeling the heart racing in her young chest. Smiling demonically, she leaned to whisper into her ear, "What is it that you want?"

Surprisingly, the girl didn't hesitate a moment. She leaned closer, her breasts firmly pressed against Aria's own, her arms encircling the asari's neck. The Pirate Queen felt a pleasant shiver as gentle fingers brushed her neckfolds.

"I want you to fuck me."

It was just a whisper but filled with such strong desire that Aria didn't hesitate even for a moment. The fingers of one of her hands tightened their grip while the other hand slid between their bodies and traveled towards the heated core. The girl gasped loudly and moaned immediately as the asari pressed her fingers against her most sensitive area. Aria closed her eyes listening to the breathing becoming quicker. She felt nails digging into her back, reminding her of the long scratches left by the other brunette. The forehead rested on her shoulder as she rubbed the girl's core. A whimper sounded close to her ear when she suddenly withdrewher hand.

"No... Don't... Ah!" The objection transformed into a heavy sigh as Aria unzipped her incredibly tight pants.

The sound of a clearing throat stopped the asari right when she was about to slide her hand under the girl's panties. "Err, Aria?"

The brunette on her lap shuddered uncomfortable and she sighed. "Anto, you have two pairs of eyes and you're still blind? Amazing," she snorted, not even bothering to raise her head.

"I didn't want to disturb you, but you insisted to have that information as soon as possible," he answered slowly. "The Normandy is back." Aria froze. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the batarian with pure curiosity. "They just emerged through the Omega Four Relay and it seems they're in kind of a hurry," he added uncertainly.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked cautiously, almost forgetting about the confused girl.

"They're heading towards the station. Should I direct them to an empty dock?"

Aria nodded slowly, gently pushed the brunette back and raised her hand to activate her omni-tool. She typed a few commands that would link her device with Miranda's. She literally jumped when the dreadful scream burst in her ear. It took her a moment to adjust to the unexpected sound. She wasn't exactly sure what was happening aboard the Normandy but it was obvious that someone was badly injured. The question was wh...

_"Hold on, Miri, Doc is right here, everything will be fine_," the sound of Shepard's voice made her freeze again.

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_Any thoughts? Any threats?_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So sorry for making you wait that long after the clifhanger... It took some time to finish this chapter (may not look like that but I really don't like hurting the characters in my stories... xD). Thank you for all the favs, follows and reviews! I read and appreciate every single word you decide to write here! ;)**

**Before you start reading just make sure you had enough sleep earlier ;D**

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**Ch. 6**

_"Hold on, Miri, Doc is right here, everything will be fine," the sound of Shepard's voice made her freeze again._

More screams. Then footsteps. Constant murmurs. The hiss of the opening door.

_"Doctor Chakwas? Heard you need some help. Came as soon as possible,"_ the salarian's voice came out of the overwhelming noise.

_"Professor Solus! Thank you for coming. They both were injured by some kind of experimental weapon..."_

_Both?_

_"I'm fine, Doc. Take care of Lawson, doesn't look like she can take much more," _a husky voice interrupted the elder woman. A voice that sounded strangely familiar.

_"Are you sure, Garrus?"_

_Garrus. Garrus Vakarian. Archangel._

_"Yeah. Don't worry about me, focus on Lawson."_

More screams. Louder. More intense. Even more dreadful. Like someone being skinned alive. _Not someone. Miranda._

_"Taking some scans." A Humming voice. "Interesting. Bodily functions normal. Unusual brain activity."_

_Experimental weapon? Brain activity? It couldn't be..._

"Shit. Anto, find the empty dock as close to Afterlife as possible," she ordered quickly, sitting straight and pushing back the girl on her lap. The batarian simply nodded and focused on his omni-tool to obey the order, but the girl looked at her with anxiety in her chocolate brown orbs. Aria cupped the brunette's cheek in her hand and tried to smile reassuringly. The years of practice helped her act calmly even though she herself felt a twinge of anxiety. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," she purred apologetically, gently stroking the girl's lower lip with her thumb. "I'm afraid you need to wait a bit for the most amazing night of your life." She grabbed the brunette's hips firmly and turned quickly, switching their positions. She leaned close pressing the girl's back against the couch; there was a loud gasp as she nipped the skin on the sensitive neck. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back," Aria whispered in the girl's ear before she pulled back and immediately turned on her heel. As she left the lodge, she focused again on the horrific sounds in her ear.

_"The bug stuck to her spine. Need to remove it. Need more advance equipment. Got everything in the clinic."_

_"Hey, can you describe what you need to someone?" _A moment of silence, interrupted only by dreadful screaming. _"Great! Make a list of what you need. Kasumi! Listen, it's very important. Remember how we searched Omega_ _for Mordin? You'll go to that clinic and bring everything that's on that list. And you need to be as quick as possible. You get it?"_

_"Sure, Shep! Go to the clinic and bring everything from the list. Easy one. You won't even notice when I'm back!"_

_"Excellent! Mordin, you sure that's everything you need?"_

_"Perfectly sure. Doctor Chakwas, could you do the anesthetic injection?"_

_"Of course, professor. Miss Lawson, you will feel a small sting..."_

_"Don't think she'll even notice," _the husky voice interrupted again.

The sharp intake of breath was heard before silence fell in the room. Through her earpiece Aria could almost feel the tension filling the Med-bay. All she could hear was heavy breathing as clearly as if no one even dared to move.

_"She... Shepard..."_ the hoarse voice didn't sound like Miranda's at all but it had to be hers. Her distinctive Australian accent was still clear despite the amount of agony ringing in her voice. There was sudden movement as someone rushed across the room.

_"Shh, Miri, it's okay, you'll be fine,"_ Shepard whispered quickly.

_"Did we..."_

_"Yes, we escaped and the Collectors are destroyed. We can talk about it later if you want. Now you should lie still and listen to Doc, okay? She and Mordin will put you back together..."_

And suddenly Shepard trailed off as Miranda sucked in a quiet breath. _"Shepard, I can't..."_

_"It's okay, Miri, it's okay, just hold on a bit longer..."_

Shepard's voice faded out deafened by the scream filled with such agony that even Aria had to stop and spend a moment to get back a grip on herself. The sound was so terrifying she was actually shocked how anyone on the Normandy could handle it. It was horrifying enough to hear that but she bet seeing Lawson's body twisted in such pain must have been far worse.

_"Mordin, what the fuck is going on with her?!"_ Shepard cried loudly when the scream died down as sudden as it had blasted out.

_"Commander, I know you are worried about her, but your yelling isn't helping at all. Could you please calm down and let us help her?"_ the elder woman spoke again. _"We are doing our best."_

"You have no idea what you are dealing with," Aria murmured as she quickened her pace. She could already see the Normandy docked in the bay, the engines off. She was only a few steps from the ship when someone bumped into her. It was her instinct that made her grab the invisible person by the arm. Her biotics flared slightly and the cloak disappeared with a quiet hiss, revealing a truly surprised thief. The petite woman looked up at her but there was no fear in her eyes; all she could see there was a tiny bit of curiosity and a large amount of determination to finish her task.

"Look, it's nice to see you, etc, but I'm kinda in a rush, you know..."

Aria let go of her arm and typed a few commands into her omni-tool; the thief's device flared as she made a small transfer. The woman's lips slightly parted when the same sign the asari had on the back of her jacket appeared above the omni-tool.

"If anyone would be foolish enough to stop you, just show them that symbol. No one should bother you then," Aria explained simply.

"I guess they won't even see me but thanks, that's really nice of you." The thief grinned broadly. A second later she simply disappeared. "The Med-bay is on the third deck," she added and Aria was left alone.

She shook her head slightly and glanced at the Normandy, a frown forming on her face. She took one deep breath before entering the ship's airlock. Surprisingly she wasn't welcomed by that bloody decontamination. Not to mention that the whole ship looked like it had been ripped into pieces and put back together. She had no idea what they had met on the other side of the relay but it didn't look like the Collectors had invited them for a tea and some cookies. Still it was a miracle they had managed to come back from the Suicide Mission alive.

"Forgot something, Kas... What the hell are you doing here?!"

She barely glanced at the pilot who was staring at her wide-eyed. "None of your business, Flight Lieutenant," she said shortly, turning her back to the bridge.

"You have no ri..."

"You're on Omega. Do I need to remind you who's in change on that station?" Aria interrupted him coldly, not even bothering to look at him over her shoulder. There were more important things waiting than arguing with the annoying pilot.

It seemed like he was the most courageous crew member on the Normandy; as she passed the deck, not a single person dared to even look at her. Somehow it made her uncomfortable. By the look on the people's faces she could tell they had gone through some horrible situations. She quickened her pace a bit, wanting to leave this part of the ship as fast as it was possible. There was something in those people, something that made her not willing to stay near them any longer. She was glad when the elevator's doors closed behind her. The screams and voices in her ear died down as she typed a command into her omni-tool cutting the connection with Miranda's device.

Even if she had been unsure of finding the way to the Med-bay, as soon as the door opened, she immediately knew where to go. The sounds from the omni-tool were horrible but they were nothing compared to what welcomed her on the Normandy's third deck. The dreadful sounds were echoing off the metal walls; she wasn't surprised at all that there was no sight of any single person on this deck. She took a deep breath and quickly made her way towards the Med-bay.

There was a moment of silence as she stepped in. A moment she spent on observing her surroundings. There were only five people in the room, six including Aria herself. Shepard was pacing nervously through the Med-bay, stopping every moment to glance at one of the beds. The familiar turian was sitting on the bed placed farther from the door, holding his bleeding arm. Except for the visible wound he didn't look like he was injured. His birdlike face was peaceful yet in his eyes there was hidden worry for the wounded woman. Then there were two doctors, the salarian she was familiar with and the elder woman she recognized as the "Doc" Shepard mentioned. They were standing at both sides of the bed, trying to find a way to help the Executive Officer.

"Aria? What the hell are you doing here?" Unlike the pilot's voice, Shepard's was filled with true surprise, not with anger.

"Fixing your problem. Get out of my way, Solus," she answered simply, quickly moving closer to the bed and pushing the salarian aside. She frowned as her eyes finally landed on Miranda. She was aware that the woman wouldn't be in the best shape, but seeing her barely alive... It wasn't something Aria would ever look forward to. The light blue eyes were closed, her teeth clenched as she was trying to endure the great pain. Her pretty face was twisted in agony as she was panting, almost fighting for every breath. Her forehead glistened with sweat; the asari was sure that if she touched the skin, it would be extremely hot because of the fever. Her eyes traveled lower down Miranda's body; she almost smiled at the sight of the distinct mark she'd made herself on the woman's neck. Lawson's tight catsuit was unzipped and opened to reveal the wound in her side. Aria frowned.

"You know how to help her?" Shepard asked, moving closer behind her. There was a tiny note of hope in her voice.

"Surprisingly I do. As Solus said, the, ah, 'bug', as he called it, needs to be removed. The only problem is that it's not only stuck to her spine, it's also already connected to her nervous system and sending the signals to her brain. That's why you registered the 'unusual brain activity'," she quoted Mordin's previous words, smiling slightly at Shepard. The expression on the Commander's face was priceless to see.

"... What... How do you..."

"Shepard, please. You're on Omega after all. I know everything that happens here. Now, we don't have time to wait for your thief to come back, so could you hold her tight?"

Without the unnecessary questions, Shepard simply nodded and moved to take a place at the other side of the bed. She leaned to grab Miranda's arm and placed her forearm across the other woman's chest. Aria wasn't sure if it was enough, yet there was only one way to make sure of it. She gently placed her hand on Miranda's belly, near the wound; her biotics flared slightly.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't look at Shepard as she answered. "Using my biotics to close the ripped veins. Nothing I'm going to do would make any sense if she bled to death."

She was more than sure that the curiosity would disappear from the Commander's voice in a second as she'd move to the second stage. First she carefully inspected the wound. It was bigger than after a bullet from an ordinary weapon. The edges were uneven and the skin around it swelled up already. At least the blood stopped running.

"I didn't even know it's possible," Shepard said slowly with even more curiosity. It looked like she calmed down at the thought that there was someone who knew how to help her XO.

"If you lived as long as I and had my training, you'd be able to do that too. But you'd have to be a pure biotic not some funny sentinel," Aria laughed quietly. "Can anyone hand me a scalpel?"

She could feel the hesitation in the air. Which was completely nonsensical. If she wanted to kill Lawson, she had had a much better opportunity the previous night. It looked like they realized that simple fact, because after a few more seconds she could feel the coolness of the metal placed in her hand. She used it to widen the wound in Miranda's side; the cut was quick and precise and Lawson only gasped but didn't make another sound. To be honest, Aria was a bit surprised; she met so many different people who seemed to be the toughest in the whole galaxy yet they screamed like babies at the sight of blood.

She put the scalpel aside, took off the glove helping herself with her teeth and without any warning slid her hand in the wound. There was a sharp intake of breath from Miranda's side and a loud gasp from Shepard's. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?!" The Commander's voice resounded in the room exceptionally loudly.

"Shut up, Shepard, that's the easiest and quickest way. You do want your XO without the Reaper's voice in her head, don't you?" Her clearly unexpected words and the innocent tone and smile made the Commander freeze with pure terror on her face.

"What the hell are you talking about? That's... That's impossible!"

"I'm afraid it's very possible," she shrugged. She moved her hand carefully, trying not to cause too much pain. Her fingers rubbed slightly against Miranda's ribs, as she reached to the spine. It was really difficult to maneuver her hand without ripping the already damaged veins and internal organs but she'd already done it before and remembered to be particularly careful. She appreciated that Miranda was stubbornly trying to lie still, yet she knew the woman was in great pain. Honestly she was kind of shocked that Lawson was able to handle all that suffer only with clenched teeth. Or maybe she just lacked the strength to scream as she had done earlier. "You see, this experimental weapon was not meant to kill. It was designed to help the scientists understand the true nature of indoctrination. I believe they also wanted to find a way to control it. And no, it was not my idea, I know all that because this bloody weapon was tested on Omega," she added with pure hate in her voice. Sometimes she still couldn't forgive herself that she hadn't noticed earlier what had been going on. Too many people had died that day. "Vakarian, you don't need to worry, it affects only humans."

There was a moment of silence after her words, disturbed only by Miranda's panting. Everyone was thinking about what she'd just said. "Who could be so insane to do such a thing?" Shepard broke the silence with a whisper. Aria smiled mockingly.

"You know them. It's my most hated enemy and your employer. Cerberus."

Shepard's lips parted with what must have been shock but it was not her voice that responded.

"I do not... work for them... _anymore_..."

Miranda's sudden whisper filled with such anger made Aria's brows rise in surprise. She looked at the wounded woman and couldn't help but smile with something that looked like pride. From the very beginning she simply couldn't believe that such an intelligent – and incredibly beautiful – woman could work for someone like The Illusive Man. Aria didn't know her history but Miranda must have been extremely desperate to turn to the terrorist organization.

"Good for you. Your employer was kinda nasty."

"No shit, Sherlock," Shepard barked furiously. It looked like she had managed to overcome the shock that was caused by the asari's small revelation.

Before she could say anything, her fingers brushed the metal surface. "Ah, here you are," she muttered, completely ignoring the confused looks almost everyone gave her. She had to be focused now. Finding the small device wasn't that difficult, but detaching it from the spine was a different kind of story. Solus wasn't that wrong when he called that little bloody thing a "bug". It had some kind of metal limbs which were used to stick to the spine. She had to crush every single limb to be able to remove it. "It may hurt a bit more," she warned Miranda gently just before she used some of her biotics to break the tiny metal part.

Lawson nodded slowly, not making any sound, but Aria wasn't blind. She saw the gritted teeth, tightly closed lids, fingers clenched around the white sheet. Miranda still had the strength to scream but it was her pride that stopped her from doing it, the pride that created the lump in her throat to forbade her from showing weakness in from of the powerful asari. Oh yes, Miranda Lawson was a very proud woman. Yet as Aria broke the last limb, she almost broke down. A tear ran down her face and her hand moved to firmly dig her fingers in Shepard's forearm, making the Commander frown a bit. Although the worst part was yet to come.

She took a deep breath giving Miranda a moment to prepare. The brunette must have sensed that what was coming next wouldn't be the most pleasurable feeling. Shepard hissed quietly as the fingers dug deeper into her forearm. Aria waited another second, after that, without any warning, she tore the device off the spine. A loud, almost deafening scream burst suddenly. Miranda's whole body tensed and arched and Shepard had to use all her force to keep the slim woman on the bed. And suddenly there was silence again, the dreadful scream died down as the brunette relaxed, her head dropped to the side, eyes still closed, breath finally steady.

"The pain was too intense, she fainted," Aria informed Shepard calmly as she noticed the terror on her face. She slowly and exceptionally carefully removed her hand from the wound and looked with disdain at the tiny device in her hand. It was still moving, trying to attach itself to the spine again. Everything inside her screamed, ordering her to crush it but there was a different idea in her head. "Solus, I believe you'd love to do some experiments," she said slowly handing Mordin the device.

"Never met such technology. Could find the cure for indoctrination. The true nature. Interesting. Need to run some tests," the salarian answered quickly, accepting the gift. He reached for a small metal box standing on the shelf and carefully put the device inside. Then he turned on his heel and left immediately, mumbling under his breath something that sounded like "the scientist salarian".

The elderly doctor appeared at her side almost from nowhere. There was a syringe in her hand filled with a whitish lotion. She gave Miranda a concentrated omni-gel injection and reached for the box with the normal gel to apply it to the wound. Next she took the bandages and glanced at Aria's hand still resting at the brunette's belly. The asari slowly halted the flow of dark energy that was stopping the inside bleeding and carefully removed her hand and stepped aside. With a small help from Shepard, in a few moments Miranda's side was covered in a thick layer of white material.

"I guess my work is done," she announced after the doctor examined Lawson and left her side to take care of Vakarian.

Shepard raised her head and smiled with thankfulness. "We appreciate your help. I honestly don't know what we would have done without you."

"Probably kill her accidentally," she shrugged and smiled slyly. The Commander simply shook her head. "Now excuse me, but I have some very important business I need to take care of," _like making the young, hot chick come_, she added in her head. Aria nodded to Shepard and was about to leave when suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist. She turned with a frown only to notice the light blue eyes staring at her intently.

"Thank you..." Miranda whispered, her voice husky and barely recognizable.

"You can repay me later. You know how." Lawson rolled her eyes as Aria smiled cockily. She started to turn again but it was the voice that stopped her this time.

"Aria, I..."

With an unnoticeable sigh, she moved closer to the bed and gently touched Miranda's forehead. "Shush. You need to rest now. We can talk later if you want." A small wave of dark energy flew through her body; the brunette's lips parted as she wanted to say something but Aria placed a finger on her lips, shaking her head. Miranda blinked a few times before her lids dropped and again her head turned to the side as she fell asleep. Aria could feel Shepard's surprised look on her back as she finally turned and left the Med-bay without a second glance. She couldn't stay there any longer. She desperately needed some distraction...

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_A/N: And? Any thoughts?_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Yup, here we have a nice, new chapter. Heard it's kinda good, so I guess you should enjoy it ;) Thank you for all those favs/follows, it's really encouraging to see that there are some people that want to know what's gonna happen next :) And thank you for every single word in those lovely reviews! And Cassie, darling, thank you for wasting your precious time on dealing with my bloody mistakes. No idea what'd I do without you :D**

**Have fun, people!**

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**Ch. 7**

"But you remember what Doc said, right? You know, that you shouldn't..."

"Kasumi, the only reason I allowed you to go there with me is the fact that, as much as I hate to admit it, I need someone to watch my back, as Omega is everything but a safe place."

And as much as she hated to admit it, she in fact was still too weak to risk walking across the disreputable streets of Omega on her own. This bloody device had debilitated her mentally – it'd been extremely difficult to keep those bloody painful signals from shutting down her whole mind – not to mention all those internal wounds that would keep causing her a lot of pain if not for the great amount of omni-gel. Thanks to her "perfect" genes it had taken her only two days to get up from the bed. On any other station she would have been ready to leave the ship back then, but knowing Omega – and Aria – it'd take some more strength than she had had then to survive the visit to Afterlife without accidentally harming herself even more. The wound had just started healing and she hadn't wanted it to reopen. That's why she had waited three more days before she had decided that was ready to face the asari. And although she still felt some pain from time to time, she'd been determined to have a small talk with the person who saved her precious mind from being destroyed by the damn tiny device made by her former employer.

"And you are aware that she probably won't just let you go after you finish talking to her, right?" Kasumi asked, smiling mischievously. Miranda simply sighed and rolled her eyes. How could she not have expected that when she'd agreed to the thief accompanying her?

"And why do you think I waited a few days? I'm not a fool, Goto," she answered simply, not even looking at the other woman who grinned wildly.

"Oh I know you're not. But someone like, let's see, Chakwas maybe, would tell you that it's still too early," the thief mentioned in a singing tone.

In a flash Miranda spun on her heel and gave Kasumi a warning look. "And that is exactly why she does not and will not know we are here. Otherwise I can promise you will find out why I was one of the most respected people in the whole organization. Are we clear?"

Kasumi gave her a wicked smile before she nodded and raised her hand to salute briefly. The brunette sighed again as the other woman disappeared without any warning. She turned back and immediately felt a slight touch on her shoulder. "The most respected or the most feared?" she heard right in her ear and again rolled her eyes at the innocent tone. She wanted to grab the thief by her arm but the other woman must have noticed the movement because the hand resting on her shoulder was gone in a split second.

In moments like these she couldn't really understand her own behavior. Yet she couldn't deny that the thief's company was enjoyable. The reason for this strange affection might be the fact that the younger woman, just like Shepard, had never been afraid of her, not even at the beginning. And unlike the other members of the crew, apart from Jacob, they both did want to talk with her and clearly liked her company. It had never stopped amazing her.

"Has no one ever told you that teasing a Cerberus Operative is not the most wise idea?" she asked almost politely, trying to keep her voice low and not look like she was talking to herself.

"Well, yeah, heard that before. But you're just a former one now."

Miranda smirked slightly as she felt the movement on her right. Immediately she reached and luckily managed to grab Kasumi's wrist before the timid woman had a chance to jump away. She pulled the thief closer, twisted her arm in one smooth move and pressed it against her back, grabbing her other shoulder at the same time to hold her in place. There was a moment of silence followed by a quiet giggle. The cloak deactivated itself as Kasumi's whole body twisted to ease the pressure put at her arm a bit.

"You were supposed to watch my back, not bounce around teasing me," Miranda warned her in a low voice. She could feel Kasumi shudder as the thief was trying to suppress another giggle.

"'Kay, okay, sorry," the woman chuckled. "But you know, you should be more careful. Aria might get jealous if she saw us right now."

Miranda just snorted and pushed the thief away, causing another laugh. "Oh please, do you really believe that someone like Aria T'Loak could be even capable of that?" As a matter of fact, Miranda was fully aware that Aria herself was spending every night with a different person. She had done some research on the Pirate Queen before she had let herself find distraction in the asari's arms.

The thief didn't bother to answer as they were already close to Afterlife. She simply smiled, mimicked a salute and disappeared. Miranda rolled her eyes before focusing her attention on the club. Her back straightened a bit more as she raised her head to look as intimidating as she could. And it worked. As always. Not a single person from the mob trying to get into Afterlife dared to make a single move towards stopping her. She passed the queue peacefully... until there was a loud "Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" A hand reached to grab her wrist but it stopped immediately as she turned, throwing a cold look at the angry man. He took a step back and all the fury disappeared from his face when Miranda's look hardened and became even more murderous. She nodded, satisfied, and turned back to continue her walk. There was a quiet laugh from the guard as she passed him and a tiny smirk appeared on her face. No one had a right to stop her.

"And now I have proof that you have friendly feelings towards me," Kasumi whispered into her ear.

Her brow rose. "Do you?" she muttered without turning her head.

"Yup. _I_ never received _that_ look."

Miranda just smirked and rolled her eyes. She could argue with the thief, convince her that it is impossible for her to have any friendly feelings – according to those who think that they know her better – but it wasn't a good time for that. She was entering Aria's territory, the place more dangerous than one could assume. It was important to stay focused if she wanted to leave before the asari would try to take advantage of her. Which was probably going to happen as soon as she stopped talking.

To her exceptional surprise, the lodge was empty. Well, almost empty. The guards were present but there was no sign of Aria herself. Yet before she could ask where the Pirate Queen had disappeared to, a batarian stepped before her, blocking her way. He visibly shuddered as Miranda narrowed her eyes again but clearly was more courageous than the man before the club; he crossed his arms trying to look self-confident.

"Aria's not here. You can leave a message if you want," he announced slowly, clearly trying to look intimidating as well. It didn't work. He gulped as Miranda's frown deepened slightly.

"I am not blind, you fool. I can clearly notice her absence. I'm more interested in learning where she is," Miranda said in her best commanding voice.

The batarian made the mistake of glancing briefly at the inconspicuous wall between two passages leading to Aria's lodge. Miranda smirked slightly and stepped closer to the hidden door. "Stop where you are! You can't go there!" the batarian yelled immediately.

The brunette simply tilted her head and looked at him dangerously. "I suggest you should open this door. I do not care about your orders. Aria and I need to have a small talk."

"She's busy," he stated stubbornly, crossing his arms again.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, but before she could manage to threaten the batarian, there was a quiet hiss. She turned her head in surprise just to look at the revealed passage. "What the..." she heard from the batarian. Her brow rose a bit as an idea came to her mind. But before she voiced it, the hooded figured appeared on her left.

"Ha! I knew hacking your omni-tool was a good idea!" Kasumi exclaimed happily. Miranda's head spun round to look at the thief in pure disbelief.

"You did _what_?!"

"Err, not the best time to argue! See you later!" the petite woman exclaimed before suddenly pushing Miranda towards the passage and disappearing before the door had even closed fully.

"Damn you, Goto," Miranda hissed, looking at the red circle in the middle of the door. There was some noise coming from the other side, some yelling and scramble but the door remained closed, trapping her inside Aria's private apartment. With a heavy sigh she went down the dark corridor. There was another door that she hadn't noticed the previous time she'd been down here. Not that she'd noticed much. Truth be told, it had been a bit difficult to notice _anything_ with Aria's hands all over her body. She shook her head in order to focus back. The door opened itself before her as she came closer. The lights in the asari's enormous apartment were dimmed and the music could barely be heard. Miranda took a moment to examine the huge room. There were some ordinary things she expected to see, like the gigantic screen on the wall with the couch – looking exactly the same as the one in the club. Before it, some book shelves – containing real books – or the large case filled with many different types of alcohol – some that Miranda had never heard before. But what she did not expect to see in the room were the things like the huge fireplace or the shallow pool placed along the wall. It was a bit odd because the pool wasn't even deep enough to go knee deep into it. Miranda crouched on the bank of the pool and removed her glove; she could barely dip her whole hand before her fingers brushed the bottom. She frowned and removed her hand, wondering to what purpose Aria had ordered to place this odd pool there. Yet she quickly forgot about that mystery as she turned around. In the corner of the room was an object she did notice the previous time. She slowly approached it; her fingers gently brushed over the wooden surface. Her frown mellowed and after a second there was a slight smile on her face. She carefully lifted the cover; her smile widened at the sight of the white keys contrasting with the black wood.

"Enjoying yourself?"

She almost dropped the cover as she literally jumped in surprise. She spun suddenly only to notice the smirking asari leaning against the door frame. There was no sign of her white jacket and her leather suit straps were unbuckled. She sighed and refrained from gulping.

"I didn't know you play the piano," she said simply instead of answering the question. Aria's eyes narrowed almost unnoticeable.

"I do not. It was a gift," the asari said casually, shrugging, but Miranda sensed there was a bigger story under the surface. Yet it wasn't her business. She simply lowered the cover, her eyes not leaving Aria who buckled the straps lazily and passed across the room to lean against the back of the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. "Willing to explain how you got in here?"

"Willing to explain what you did with my omni-tool?" Miranda answered with a question, leaning against the piano and mimicking the asari's pose. Aria smirked slightly and shook her head in visible amusement.

"I should have known it wouldn't escape your notice. I simply linked it with my omni-tool so I could be the first to know if you did destroy the Collectors and survived your suicide mission or if you failed and the galaxy would be defeated because no one else realized that every single being was in danger," Aria explained without hesitation in a tone that could also be used while talking about the weather.

"I don't believe that was the only reason."

"And who said it was? Yet it's the only reason you're going to hear. I'm not known for sharing my secrets. And let me guess, this little friend of yours, the thief, it was her who helped you get in here, am I right?"

"Do you think I am not capable of hacking your system on my own?"

"Of course not. I'm just aware that your mind must still be exhausted after fighting the Reaper signal in your head. And in that case it would be foolish to wrack your brain when the thief could do the same much faster. And unnoticeably." Aria's smirk widened. Miranda shook her head and couldn't help but smile slightly. There was a moment of silence before Aria's expression got serious. "I'm glad you made it," she said quietly, taking Miranda by surprise.

She honestly didn't know what to say to that. Yet before she had time to think about a proper answer, sudden shouting burst out from the corridor leading to the club followed by loud footsteps. In a second the room was crowded with batarians and turians, all of them armed to the teeth and all the guns aimed at her. It was the loud throat clearing that stopped them from riddling Miranda with holes.

"There is no need to kill my guest," Aria said coldly. In a second all the guns were pointed at the floor. "Bray, I appreciate that you remember your responsibilities, but you can go now."

The batarian that had been stubbornly trying to stop Miranda from seeing the asari lowered his head a bit. He nodded to Aria and waved at the rest of the guards, dismissing them. It took a few moments before they left the room but as soon as they were alone again Miranda looked back at Aria only to freeze as she noticed a slim figure entering the room through another door that must have been leading to Aria's bedroom.

"What's going on?" a young, dark haired woman asked, yawning and approaching Aria slowly. The asari didn't move as the girl embraced her with a huge smile on her face. Miranda felt a sudden anger filling her mind surprisingly quickly.

"Who is that?" she asked slowly, her eyes not leaving the young woman even for a second.

The girl jumped and turned with pure shock on her face. She must have not noticed that Aria was talking with someone before the guards rushed in. Aria simply smirked and glanced briefly at the girl clinched to her side. "Chloe," she answered simply, clearly enjoying the moment.

"And what is she doing here?" Miranda asked again, her voice becoming more like a hiss as she eyed the girl, not happy at all at the fact that she was wearing only her panties and shirt. The girl blushed and cuddled up to Aria like she wanted to hide from Miranda's gaze.

"I was fucking her," Aria shrugged.

Miranda finally looked at the asari, annoyed even more at the sight of the wide smirk on her face. She couldn't tell where that anger came from but she was partially sure it had something to do with her hatred for sharing.

"How many ti..."

"Twice."

Miranda nodded slowly and looked back at the completely confused girl. The young brunette kept glancing from Miranda to Aria and back again, clearly trying to understand what was going on. And it didn't look like anyone was willing to explain her anything as the asari's attention was still fully focused on the other brunette. She was completely ignoring the young and willing flesh clenching to her own body; her eyes were like glued to Miranda's blue ones.

"So what brought you here?" she asked casually like nothing had interrupted their conversation.

"I do not want an audience," Miranda stated coldly, turning her gaze to Aria again. Aria's smirk only widened.

"Chloe, I suggest you should take the rest of your clothes from my bedroom. I believe you remember where the exit is?"

The girl raised her head to look at the asari with almost terror in her dark eyes. Miranda sighed and shook her head in annoyance. She had a weird feeling that Aria was having the fun of her life. The girl on the other hand looked like something terrible had happened to her. Yet she simply lowered her head and released the asari from her tight embrace and dragged herself towards the other door.

"That was rude," Miranda commented the moment she lost sight of the girl. "You could at least say goodbye to her," she added when Aria didn't say a word. The smirk on the asari's face was horribly annoying. She shifted uneasily, trying to calm down. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore. "The moment I left your bed you found a toy to replace me?" she asked with venom in her voice.

"Well, you clearly declared that there will be no next time, so I saw no reason to wait for you," Aria answered calmly with a slight shrug.

Miranda was ready to argue with her, to release the anger that grew inside her but she realized her mistake. She had no right to get jealous. What had happened between them was just a one night stand; she cursed herself for forgetting that whatever would happen, the asari was still Aria T'Loak.

Yet she couldn't help that her anger rose at the sight of that damn girl walking back into the room. In spite of herself she glanced at the young brunette, studying her carefully. The blood boiled in her veins as she noticed some similarities between the girl's and her own body. First there was the hair, as dark as Miranda's, long, straight but tied into a ponytail. The girl was tall and slim, yet she lacked Miranda's grace as she was walking across the room, but her chest was almost equally impressive. What satisfied the former Cerberus Operative was the fact that the girl's eyes were completely different and her whole face looked softer as it was devoid of Miranda's arrogance and nonchalance.

"Chloe?" Aria's voice stopped her immediately. The girl turned to look at the asari with hope written in her face. Aria's eyes never left Miranda's as she spoke again, smiling wickedly. "Goodbye."

The girl's face dropped and the other brunette simply rolled her eyes. The former Cerberus Operative turned her back to the Omega Queen and her young dismissed toy. She slowly approached the pool again; the footsteps behind her were completely ignored as she stared at the still water.

"It is not an ordinary pool, is it?" she asked casually to break the awkward silence that followed after the girl had left.

"No, it's not. And you're not here to talk about the pool," Aria's voice came right from behind her. Before she even thought about turning, gentle hands found their place on her hips. She was softly pulled back until her back pressed against the asari's chest. The hands snaked around her waist, holding her in place. She sighed quietly and relaxed a bit, feeling strangely safe in those strong arms. "Are you finally going to tell me why you are here?" Aria whispered right into her ear before resting her chin on Miranda's shoulder.

The brunette felt her head getting dizzy as the asari's fingers started caressing her belly. She leaned further against the Omega Queen, cursing in her mind and closing her eyes. "I wanted to thank you. For saving my life," she whispered slowly, suddenly self-conscious. "You said it wouldn't kill me but how do you imagine the life without your own mind? Without any control over your own body, over your thoughts. Killing the people you considered as friends just because they were too close. Losing your freedom and submitting yourself to the unfamiliar voice in your head. That is not a life anyone would wish to have." Aria said nothing after Miranda became quiet. Only her embrace tightened a bit. Miranda took a deep breath before she let her fingers travel down the asari's arms and rest on her forearms. "Why me? You told Shepard that Cerberus is your worst enemy. I was working for them when we met the first time. I don't believe you didn't notice the emblem on my uniform."

She could literally feel Aria's heavy sigh. She must have expected such a question."Why does it even matter? Maybe I was just bewitched by your beauty. Or I heard about you before and wanted to know the Perfect Woman better. Or I hoped Shepard would be capable of helping you realize that Cerberus is not the best place for such an intelligent, beautiful and talented woman as you are. Pick one," the Queen finished, nipping gently at her earlobe. Miranda shuddered as a shiver ran down her spine. She was aware that Aria felt it but she didn't care at all.

"And what made you think that Shepard would be capable of that?"

"Please, she managed to convince a rebellious Spectre to place a bullet in his own head. I can't think of any other person that would be more able to get through to you."

"But why..."

"Shh, enough questions for today," Aria interrupted her with a whisper followed by a gentle kiss placed on her neck. Miranda's head tilted unwillingly as the asari nipped at the soft skin, making the brunette sigh in sudden pleasure.

"Aria..." She clearly wasn't allowed to finish the sentence; her chin was grabbed gently so the asari could turn her head and join their lips. What Miranda would have never expect was the delicacy of the kiss; it released the emotions she'd never even consider having. She felt adored, even worshiped, something she'd never experienced before. There was no second thought as she felt the asari's tongue on her lips asking for permission to deepen the overwhelming kiss. A hand caressed her cheek and her previous anger simply vanished. She found it difficult to breathe when Aria finally pulled back. There was another short kiss placed on her lips before the asari went down to press her own lips against the skin on Miranda's neck. The brunette felt heat rising inside of her, her mind become blank. Aria's hands grabbed her wrists and her arms were lifted and crossed above her own breasts. An odd warmth embraced her arms and suddenly she couldn't move them even an inch after the asari's hands released them and traveled down her body, caressing every curve. Miranda forced her eyes to open and was greeted by the light blue gleam of the dark energy holding her arms in place. She wanted to do something, demand release but the agonizingly slow motion of Aria's fingers on her body was driving her insane. Her heart was racing, breath became more shallow, she was only a step from panting as the heat kept growing. Every inch of her skin that was touched by the asari's lips was almost burning. She couldn't stop a quiet moan as Aria nipped at her pulse point. Her blood was boiling again but not because of anger. She felt light-headed and the pulsing growing between her thighs was almost painful.

"Do you remember what I said the last time?" Aria asked all of a sudden, making Miranda frown. She wasn't even able to think about her own name, how could she remember anything? "I said," the Omega Queen whispered without waiting for the answer. "That you will regret what you did. So excuse me now, I have a station to run."

The gentle embrace and the dark energy holding her arms vanished suddenly; Miranda almost fell over because of the enormous weakness in her knees. She barely managed to lean against the nearest bookcase. Not only her hands were shaking, she couldn't control her whole body. The arousal she felt was immense and doubled with the thought that it took only a gentle touch to bring her that close to the edge.

"I believe you remember where the exit is."

Miranda's eyes snapped open and she gave the asari a gaze filled with such fury that even the Reapers would think twice before attacking her. Yet Aria barely noticed her sudden rage; she simply put on her famous white jacket, not even glancing at Miranda. Deciding that she would have her revenge later, since now, she simply lacked the energy to do anything, the brunette took a deep breath and gathered her strength so she could walk across the room. Yet before she reached the door, a hand grabbed her wrist. In a second she was turned around with her front pressed against the asari's chest and arms snaking around her waist. There was a wicked smile on Aria's face and a low chuckle filled the room.

"Don't blame me, you did this to yourself," the Queen of Omega whispered before she leaned in and again, pressed her lips against Miranda's. The brunette couldn't help but moan as she felt the teeth closing around her lower lip. Her own fingers dug into Aria's shoulder, making the asari tighten the embrace. Miranda gasped as the asari pulled back only to place a few soft kisses on her neck. "You have no idea how delicious you are. I am looking forward to seeing you in my bed again," she whispered right into Miranda's ear before she slowly loosened her embrace and took a step back.

"Damn you..." was all Miranda was able to say.

Aria's smile only widened.

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_A/N: A review, maybe? I'd love you know your opinion! :D_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Yup, I know that was fast :D And I'm kinda proud of this chapter so I hope you'll enjoy :) Oh, and I feel the need to mention that in my story things are going to be a bit different than what happened in the comic... Mainly because I didn't read it ;) So have fun!**

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**Ch. 8**

Two long weeks had passed since the Normandy had left Omega's dock after extremely expensive repairs. At least they would have been extremely expensive if the frigate hadn't been repaired on Omega. Aria had made sure that every single part of the ship would be in the best condition at the price as small as possible. She had thought about that as a thank you gift for taking care of those damn Collectors. She'd been sure neither Cerberus nor the Alliance or the Council would even think about shaking Shepard's hand in gratitude. First they'd have to believe that the Collectors had indeed been real (or in Cerberus' case forgive the Commander for turning her back on the whole organization and stealing the ship together with the whole crew and their most precious Operative).

During those two weeks Aria had been quite busy. The damn Illusive Man had kept calling her, insisting that they needed to talk. She had not intended to speak with that bloody creature; yet the increasing number of Cerberus' shuttles traveling through the Omega Four Relay had been making her anxious. They had been too close to her precious station and she had not wished to see any of those shuttles docking in one of her bays. Yet one day they had simply disappeared...

"Do you have any idea what happened to those shuttles?" she asked quietly, her eyes never leaving the data visible on one of the screens.

"None. You know, TIM isn't sharing his plans with me," an angry voice behind her answered with venom. "All I know is that they found something in the ruins of that Collector base but I've already told you that. Guess they're going to run some tests. I wonder who's gonna supervise them since, because of Shepard, TIM lost one of his best and most _loyal _agents." The anger vanished revealing a slight amount of amusement. Aria could literally sense the smile that appeared on the man's face. She smirked herself. The Illusive Man deserved losing Lawson. The brunette was too great to be a part of the terrorist organization.

"I'm sure he's found someone to replace her."

"Perhaps. But you know, there was a reason why she was in charge during the Lazarus Project. Shepard's resurrection was the biggest and most important project. TIM trusted her, at least a bit, otherwise he'd never have agreed to some changes she'd insisted on. He was really pissed off when she told him to fuck himself. But whatever, I'm not here to talk about her, am I?"

"Of course not. You are here to tell me what Cerberus was doing in the Collector base and why the shuttles are not going there anymore," she reminded tiredly. The man was a great source of information but was easy to distract.

"I said I don't know!" The anger again. He was too emotionally unstable as well. "You can ask TIM yourself if you desire that info so much."

"Then find out," she hissed, ignoring his mocking tone. "I'm not paying you for nothing."

"Yeah, I know, heard that before. My Queen, I wanna ask you something before I leave," his voice had become uncertain and quieter. She instantly knew what she was going to hear but didn't interrupt him in any way. He cleared his throat after a few seconds of silence. "How is she? My mum?"

She turned her head slightly to glance briefly at the hologram of the tall, young man. His fingers disappeared in his short blond hair as he scratched his head, looking at her with helplessness in his light blue eyes. Although he had always been full of life, he looked so vulnerable in this moment.

"She is fine," Aria answered gently. She was given a genuine smile that made her feel an odd warmth near her heart. The smile widened as she added, "She was asking about you."

"I can never repay you for what you did," the man said. He saluted vigorously and vanished as the connection was ended.

Aria let herself smile slightly. The man was one of her best informers, the best spy giving her the best and most valuable data straight from Cerberus' database. She should thank The Illusive Man for that. That young man had been one of Cerberus' best agents... until the brilliant leader of that bloody organization had decided that his mother was too dangerous for their reputation. The woman had lived on Omega and spend every single moment of her existence on reminding everyone who was listening to her how evil Cerberus really was. At that time she had had no idea that her own son had been working for those people; he was expelled from the Alliance for stealing and The Illusive Man had been the only one who had been willing to give him a job. Unfortunately the Cerberus agents had showed up on Omega to silence his mother exactly at the same time when he had been visiting her. There had been a fight... And what a fight it had been... Half of the street would have been blown up if Aria's mercs hadn't interfered. The Cerberus troops had been killed but they had managed to wound the woman badly. Yet she had been too strong to simply die; but she still had been in great danger. That had been the reason why one day a young man had dared to interrupt the Pirate's Queen peaceful evening...

_"My Queen, you're the only one who can help me."_

_"And why should I? Do you know you are working for my enemy?"_

_"... I... I can provide you with information. I have access to many databases. Many important ones."_

_"They will find out that you're betraying them. Why would you want to risk that?"_

_"I... can't let them hurt my mum. I joined them only because they were willing to pay me. My mum is an invalid, no one wants to give her a job. It's up to me to provide her with everything she needs. My life was tough, but she was always here for me. I can't leave her now..."_

_"What's your name, boy?"_

_"David. David Winchester."_

_"Well, David, you can stop worrying about your mother. She will be safe, you have my word..."_

Aria sighed and turned the terminal off. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples; Cerberus was giving her a headache. Yet she could relax a bit now. She was sure David would find a solution to her problem. He'd always managed to do that.

She was sitting in her private apartment with a cup of coffee - another reason why she had a weakness for humans; there was no other race that could make such an amazing beverage - and reading a message from David. It didn't satisfy her at all. It looked like The Illusive Man became more careful; despite Winchester's access to many databases, he couldn't find any information about what was going on in the Collector base. He suspected that all the reports were kept on TIM's private terminal.

With a sigh she threw the datapad on the table; she cursed loudly as it slipped on the polished surface and fell to the floor. She rolled her eyes and put the cup aside before she bent so she could reach the annoying device. She put it back on the table and straightened immediately as she heard a quiet hiss behind her. Sighing again she glanced over her arm at Anto; the batarian had a slightly confused look on his face and it was obvious he felt uncomfortable interrupting her rest.

"What is so important that you have to disturb me when I clearly told you that I want to be alone?" she asked, annoyed. She was not in a mood to deal with some unimportant matter that "required" her attention.

The batarian lowered his head a bit and pointed at something behind him. "Someone wants to speak..."

"Get out of my way," a voice interrupted him suddenly. A voice that sounded extremely familiar. A voice with a distinctive Australian accent.

Anto was pushed aside with a sudden flare of biotics, revealing the person that stood behind him. Aria's eyes widened slightly as she looked at no one other than the tall brunette human who entered the room like she owned the place. At least she tried to walk nonchalantly. The Queen of Omega was not a fool; she could clearly see that the former Cerberus agent was completely exhausted. Her moves were slower than usual, she had a slight limp in her right leg; there were dark circles under her eyes and her frown looked like it was permanently glued to her face. And there were remains of blood on her white and black uniform; the uniform that was ripped right where the Cerberus emblem used to be. As she sat on the couch without waiting for permission, relief appeared in her light blue eyes.

"You're dismissed, Anto," Aria said with a smirk, her eyes never leaving Miranda's face. A deep, yet oddly comfortable, silence filled the room. The Omega Queen took her time to examine every inch of the other woman's face. Exhaustion was clearly visible in every feature; it even looked like sitting down on the comfortable couch was something Miranda had been dreaming about for some time. Her light eyes were focused on the logs burning in the fireplace; the light cast by the fire caressed her skin emphasizing itsunnatural paleness. She wondered what had happened to this amazing woman. When she'd seen her last time, Miranda had been recovering from this damn wound and was healing well, and joking with this little thief and sending Aria's guards the 'I'm-going-to-kill-you-if-you-don't-do-what-I'm-sa ying' looks - she had spent some time watching the records after the brunette had left her apartment. And right now the Perfect Woman looked like she was beaten and defeated; anger started growing in Aria. "Guess you had some tough days, didn't you?" she finally asked casually.

Miranda slowly closed her eyes and leaned her head against the back of the couch. She visibly relaxed a bit. "You have no idea." It was barely a whisper, yet Aria noticed the vulnerability in her voice. She clenched her fist. "Shepard is imprisoned. The Alliance was slightly pissed off after she blew up a whole batarian system."

Aria couldn't help but smile at the sign of a tiny smirk forming on Miranda's face. "Heard about Shepard. Not only the Alliance was pissed off, I guess. You can't say the batarians were all happy." Her casual tone clearly helped the brunette relax even more. The tension vanished from her body as she leaned deeper into the back of the couch. It even looked like she was about to fall asleep. Aria maybe would have let her but there was something she needed to know. "So what happened to you?" In a flash the tension was back. The blue eyes shot open and after a second Miranda turned her head slightly, covering her face with her dark hair. She clearly wasn't going to give an answer. And Aria didn't need any. The reaction itself confirmed her suspicion. "You didn't have any other place to go to, did you?" The barely visible movement of Miranda's jaw told her she was right. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Can't imagine how much you managed to piss off The Illusive Man. They tried to hunt you down, didn't they? Oh and I saw the warrant for you. Looks like being a part of a terrorist organization didn't bring you any allies in the Alliance."

"You made your point. Can you stop it now? What do you want me to say? Yes, I didn't want to come here. And yes, I have no other place to go. Happy now?" Miranda interrupted her with a venomous hiss. The glare Aria received was fully capable of sending someone weaker right to the grave.

"No, I'm not happy," she answered simply.

Miranda snorted. "I shouldn't have come here. Clearly it was a mistake," she murmured under her nose but made no move to get up from the comfortable couch.

"So what are you still doing here?" Aria asked with pure amusement in her voice. "You know very well where the exit is."

The brunette's lips parted as she was about to say something but she clenched her teeth immediately and turned her head, hiding her face again. Aria sighed quietly. It was obvious what the young woman - almost newborn comparing to the asari's age - had come for, but the Queen of Omega wanted to hear it. She wanted the brunette to give up her damn stubbornness and simply ask. But that clearly wasn't going to happen. She shook her head as Miranda got up slowly and turned as she was about to leave.

"Let's have a small deal." She smirked as the brunette stopped immediately. Although she couldn't see the woman's face, she was sure that the hope was clearly visible. "I'll let you stay here and live the life I live. You will have access to some parts of my resources, to my money and my mercs."

A moment of silence followed her words. A silence so deep that she could almost hear Miranda's heart beating hastily in her chest. After a second the brunette turned slowly. Aria was right. There was a tiny amount of hope in her eyes.

"What's the catch? You'll force me to dance in your damn club?" Miranda asked cautiously.

The asari simply snorted and got up. She approached the woman unhurriedly; her arms quickly snaked around her waist. She could feel the hesitation, before Miranda leaned into her embrace. Without a word she grabbed the edge of the upper part of the brunette's uniform and lifted it. The still reddened scar on the woman's side was contrasting terribly with her pale skin. Aria's fingers brushed it gently but still Miranda winced slightly. The wound had been nasty and although **a** whole month had passed it clearly was still sensitive. Aria felt an odd wave of anger rising in her. But before she did anything about that, Miranda's fingers clenched around her wrist. Her hand was moved away and the scar covered again.

"What's the catch?" the brunette repeated with more seriousness.

"You'll be dependent on me." Miranda's whole body tensed immediately. In a flash Aria realized that losing her freedom was probably the worst thing that could ever happen to her. "Do not worry, dear. Harming you in any way is definitely not my intention," she whispered quickly into Miranda's ear. Yet it wasn't enough to calm her down. "You don't have to decide now. I'll give you two days to consider my offer. You can stay on Omega, take your time. If you accept it, just come to me. You know exactly where to find me."

"And if I won't?" Miranda asked after a moment, trying to sound indifferently.

"You will have to leave. And if you don't, I will make you. Make a wise decision as this is your only chance."

She loosened her embrace as Miranda nodded slowly. Taking a step back, she examined the brunette as her head lowered a bit. She could see her taking a deep breath before the woman left without a second glance. She slowly returned to the couch and sat down thinking about the whole conversation. She really hoped Miranda would make the right decision...

"Aria? Are you even listening?"

The asari twitched as she suddenly felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She shook her head quickly, trying to throw away the annoying thoughts, and turned towards her guest in an attempt to focus her attention on what the other asari was saying.

"Sorry, dear, I was just pondering over something," she said, trying to smile apologetically. The smile didn't reach her eyes.

"I was asking what you are going to do about Cerberus," Tevos repeated with a sigh.

"I'm not sure yet," Aria shrugged. The hand still resting on her shoulder was slightly annoying but she tried to ignore it. She was aware that Tevos was simply trying to comfort her. And get into her pants, but that wasn't going to happen. "I need to see what they are up to."

As a matter of fact, she didn't care about Cerberus at all at that moment. Her thoughts were constantly focused on one brunette human and she simply couldn't stop thinking about her. Part of her was afraid she'd pushed the woman too much with her demand the day before. The moment the former Cerberus Operative had left her apartment, there had been no sign of her. Which was quite shocking as Aria had been totally sure that there was not a tiny chance Miranda Lawson would refuse to accept the offer. Yet the Omega Queen had simply had to add that condition. She wanted to have the whole Miranda not just a part of the woman. There was no way she could ever explain it, but the brunette was truly intoxicating. Since the second she'd seen the woman entering her apartment the previous day, her fingers were constantly itching to touch that soft skin, caress every inch of that remarkable body. She'd rarely experienced such a powerful desire towards one particular person. Yet whenever it'd happened, she simply had to do everything in her power to literally appropriate that person. She wanted her, she needed to have her and she would have her. No one was going to stop her from getting what was hers. And she didn't really care about Miranda's decision. Even if the woman did run away from Omega, she would find a way to bring her back, no matter what the price would be. If Aria T'Loak wanted something or someone, nothing would stand in her way.

"Aria? Maybe we should leave that discussion for another day?"

Tevos' voice once again brought her back to reality. She frowned and simply nodded. It wasn't the best time to talk with this woman. She couldn't risk the Councilor trying to take advantage of her mental absence. She'd have to be blind to not notice that the asari had a huge crush on her. The only reason why she hadn't made Tevos aware that nothing would ever happen between them was the fact that the Councilor was very useful.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Aria shook her head. "No, just find me that information I asked you about earlier."

"Of course," Tevos nodded in resignation and slowly got up. "Is there any chance you will tell me why you need to know everything about that Oriana Lawson?"

"Not your business," the Omega Queen hissed coldly, not even glancing at the Councilor as she sighed and left Aria's private lodge.

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_A/N: R&R, please? ;)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Ch. 9**

"Best grades, school finished with a distinction, why am I not surprised," Aria murmured to herself with pure amusement, her eyes not leaving the datapad even for a moment. To be honest, she didn't expect Tevos to send her all the information so soon. It looked like she had picked the right person for that task. Most of the data needed a Spectre authorization – thanks to Shepard for sure – so Aria might have had some problems while digging for it by herself. Knowing people like Tevos had its benefits.

She focused back on the datapad only to find out that Oriana Lawson had won every single school competition she'd participated in. And... had been caught while making out with some guy on the sports field. She wondered if Miranda knew about that particular event. If she did... Well, it was more than obvious that the younger Lawson had been forced to listen to a nice long lecture.

"Enjoying yourself?" asked a bored voice.

Her movement halted immediately and the laugher, she hadn't even notice was hers, died down as her eyes left the datapad to glance at the person sitting comfortably on the couch in her private lodge. A small smirk formed on her face as she turned the device off and tossed it away; her bodyguard barely managed to catch it before it fell to the ground. Aria crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head as she took in the slim silhouette of her guest.

"My, my, what an unexpected visit," she murmured under her breath. "What brings you here? I was suspecting you'd be trying to free your precious Commander."

A huge grin appeared on the other woman's face; the image of being extremely bored vanished in a second. "Shepard is fine and well guarded. I'm afraid the Alliance is not stupid enough to not notice if their most valuable prisoner suddenly disappears," the human shrugged innocently. "It's better for her to stay there for some time."

Aria's brow rose slightly. To be honest, she expected Shepard's whole team to rush blindly into the Alliance's prison to rescue their precious and irreplaceable leader. After all, who knows how long the galaxy could live in peace without Shepard stopping everyone from killing each other. Not to mention the Reapers. Aria was no fool, she was absolutely sure that the Commander was right about the threat. And it looked like Shepard was the only one who was truly aware of the danger and capable of dealing with it. Pity that the Council was too dumb to listen to her.

"So what are you doing here? Looking for a job?" Aria asked her guest seating herself on her famous couch. There was a greedy smile on her face but it vanished as the brown-haired woman shook her head, shrugging apologetically.

"Nope, I was looking for our mutual friend," she answered simply. "I was hoping to find her here."

"As you can see, she's not here," Aria snorted with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Pity, I can't find her anywhere," the woman shrugged again. "If she shows up here, could you give her my message?"

A polite request was definitely not something Aria would expect from that woman. Yet it made her curious and she nodded before even realizing she actually did it. Her guest broke the eye contact to look at the datapad held by the batarian. She was silent for a few minutes. Suddenly her dark brown eyes were back on Aria. There was a solemn expression on her face.

"She's in danger."

Aria tilted her head looking at the woman with disbelief. "Like I didn't know that before. I'm sure she's capable of..."

"Not her," the woman interrupted her quickly, shaking her head. "Oriana. Someone is searching for her. If he finds her... well, let's just say that it won't bring anything good," she finished simply, getting up.

"Why are you telling me this?" Aria asked slowly just before the woman left the lodge. She stopped but didn't turn.

"'Cause I'm sure she'll come here. And I don't have enough time to look for her."

"Any why are you so sure that she will come here?" the Omega Queen asked suspiciously. Every passing minute was convincing her that the Perfect Woman had no intention to visit her club again.

The woman turned her head and smiled. There was a glint of joy in her eyes. "She will. After all, where else can she go? I don't know any other place guarded by the powerful and invincible asari that happens to like her a lot and is ready to take care of her," the thief said with a wink. Before Aria could say a word, Kasumi flung the hood on and simply vanished into thin air.

The asari closed her lips and crossed her arms over the chest. There was something peculiar in the thief's voice beneath all that playfulness. Aria was not sure what exactly it could be but it sounded strangely similar to hope. She wasn't sure what to think about that. Yet there was no time to ponder over it. There were some reports she had to read and orders to give. She barely managed to turn on her omni-tool before the sound of a scuffle reached her ears. First there was a loud thud followed by an arrogant laugh.

"You deaf? I said you're not goin' there. Aria's busy," the krogan guard announced loudly.

Someone answered him but kept their voice quiet so Aria couldn't hear the words. Yet she didn't need to. She raised her head right in time to see the same krogan flying across the corridor surrounded by a blue flash. An even louder thud announced that he'd met the wall.

"You're an idiot, Gorn," the turian's laugh drowned the curses out. "Aria was waiting for her."

A moment later Grizz walked into the lodge followed by the tall, gorgeous brunette. Aria remained still as the turian nodded towards her, gently placed a bag on the couch and walked away after briefly touching the dark haired woman's shoulder. The asari's eyes never left the brunette's face as the woman smiled thankfully at Grizz. Aria immediately noticed that she looked even worse than two days earlier. The dark circles under her eyes had visibly deepened as if she hadn't wasted any minute on sleeping. There was an unnatural tension in her muscles, noticeable at every step she took. Her gestures lacked the usual arrogance. And this time she did not relax as she sat down on the comfortable couch.

"And here I thought I wasn't going to see you anymore," Aria murmured quietly. Miranda gave her a tired look and shrugged.

"I was trying to find a different solution," she answered with clear honesty.

"Is it that difficult to believe that I'm not going to take advantage of you?" She did try, she really did, but there was no way she could hide the amusement from her voice. Yet Miranda didn't look amused at all. She simply glanced at Aria, her eyes showing almost nothing. Almost, because they were full of tiredness that the brunette was clearly trying to hide. The Omega Queen sighed. She couldn't stand looking at her like this. The woman was beautiful and powerful, but right now she looked more like a wreck.

"I just wanted to make sure that this is my only option," Miranda said suddenly with something similar to embarrassment.

"By the look on your face and the fact that you are indeed here I guess there wasn't any other?" Aria asked kindly with a completely innocent look on her face. Yet inside she was grinning wickedly. And no one could blame her. With a little effort she managed to reach her aim. There she was, the Perfect Woman, wanted former Cerberus Operative, Shepard's famous second in command, right here in Afterlife, on Aria's couch, giving up her own freedom. Once more the Omega Queen was the winner.

"Did you finish?" The question was quiet but after a long uncomfortable silence it sounded awkwardly loud. Aria raised her brow, tilting her head slightly. "Do you really think I can't notice when someone is basking in their victory?" Miranda's voice was calm but the asari could sense that again, she was feeling embarrassed.

Instead of answering she simply shrugged and smiled gently. She had every right to "bask in her victory". "I'm just glad that you decided to agree to my proposal."

"My, now that sounded like we are about to get married," Miranda snorted, yet Aria was sure she heard a hint of amusement in her voice.

**"**In your dreams," she answered simply. In her whole life no one had managed to bind her to another person. And she was willing to make sure that would not change.

"And why do you think I would want to dream about such a thing?"

Aria's brow travelled up in pure disbelief. Her blue eyes met Miranda's light ones. A deep silence surrounded them. She tilted her head slightly. Miranda narrowed her eyes. A frown formed itself on the asari's face. A tiny muscle under the brunette's left eye twitched. The stare contest continued. Another twitch. An almost unnoticeable glint appeared in those light eyes. The frown deepened. Finally Miranda couldn't take any more. A quiet laugh filled the room, destroying all the tension created by their small contest. The laugh was extremely comforting. Aria couldn't help but smile slightly.

"You should have seen your face," Miranda said after a while with a playful gleam in her eyes.

Aria shrugged nonchalantly. "Your answer was... unexpected." Her words made Miranda laugh again. As much as the Omega Queen didn't approve of anyone laughing at her, she had to admit that hearing the brunette's laughter was oddly pleasurable.

"Oh I bet there are thousands, no, rather millions of people who dream about marring you," the former Operative mocked her.

"If you must know, it's impossible to count how many times I rejected the proposals. I still sometimes can't believe where they take this idea from. And surprisingly, humans are the most courageous when it comes to asking my hand in marriage. It's like your male kind can't learn that there is no chance that I would ever choose any of them," Aria said calmly, yet her glare became more intense with every sentence. The message in the last words was pretty clear and judging from Miranda's sudden heavy breathing, the brunette had no trouble understanding it. The asari smiled wolfishly as the other woman tried to hide the gulp.

Her eyes never left Miranda's as she got up slowly and approached her like a dangerous predator. There was no fear in those light orbs. It had never been there. No doubt it was one of the reasons why Aria liked her so much. Miranda Lawson was brave enough to deride her openly. Aria was aware that it was all playfully and the brunette wasn't really trying to sneer at her. And that fact made everything even more enjoyable. There had been only one person who'd dared to do that. And Aria had to admit that she did miss this.

She stopped right in front of the woman and held out her hand with a clear message. Miranda glanced at her suspiciously but accepted the help. The second she got on her feet Aria grinned wickedly. With one quick pull she turned the brunette and her arm, still holding Miranda's hand, in a moment was wrapped around her waist. There was a short sigh and another quiet laugh as the woman's back was pressed tightly against the asari's chest. Aria's fingers brushed the dark hair off the side of Miranda's face. She nipped gently at her earlobe and felt the brunette's whole body shudder as she purred quietly.

"You're so delicious," she whispered into Miranda's ear between nipping and licking her skin. The brunette's head tilted to the side, giving her more space. "Now, as you are my property-"

In a second the woman in her arms tensed and she had to tighten the embrace to prevent her from freeing herself. "I am not your toy!" Miranda snapped with unexpected anger.

"Of course you're not," Aria whispered again, her lips not moving farther than an inch from the brunette's skin. "You're so much more than that." The soft voice and the words themselves seemed to calm the woman down. Aria waited a few more moments before she decided that she could continue without causing another panic attack. "I would like you to do something for me." She could sense the tension forming again in the brunette's shoulder but she wasn't interrupted this time. "I want you to take your bag and go to my apartment. You can leave your stuff wherever you want. Then go to my bedroom, I believe you remember where it is." At this point she stopped tasting Miranda's neck. Her lips were pressed against the woman's ear, whispering the instructions. "Take off all your clothes." A wicked grin appeared on her face as she notice that the woman was already short of breath. "Go to the bathroom and take a _long_ relaxing bath." Miranda leaned further against her liker her legs were too weak to hold her. "Then go back to the bedroom, lie down on the bed," she paused to give herself a bit more time to admire her work. Miranda's eyes were firmly closed, her fingers clenched around Aria's, her breath held as she was waiting for the asari to finish. Aria's smile widened. "And have a long rest. You're completely exhausted and what you need now is plenty of sleep," she finally said gently.

It took a few long moments before Miranda made any move. At first she turned her head to look at Aria carefully. There was an odd gleam in her eyes, the Omega Queen had not a single clue what it could mean. Without saying a word the brunette pushed her arm aside and reached for her bag. She didn't even turn as she walked slowly towards the hidden passage. The door opened before her and only then she stopped. Her head turned slightly but the dark hair covered her face.

"Thank you."

The two words were uttered so quietly Aria wasn't even sure she heard them correctly. Yet before she could ask anything, the brunette disappeared behind the closed door. Aria crossed her arms and simply stood there, looking at the hidden passage for a few seconds. A tiny smile formed on her face.

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_Any thoughts?_


End file.
